MAKING  THE 

SMALL  SHOP  PROFITABLE 


Making  the 
Small  Shop  Profitable 


Making 

The  Small  Shop 
Profitable 


By 


John  H.  Van  Deventer,  M.E.,  Memb.A.S.M.E. 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF  THE  AMERICAN  MACHINIST 

AUTHOR,   "SUCCESS  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP,"  "HANDBOOK  OF  MACHINE 

SHOP  MANAGEMENT,"  CO-AUTHOR,  ''MANUFACTURE 

OF  ARTILLERY  AMMUNITION" 


FIRST  EDITION 


PUBLISHED  BY 
THE  AMERICAN  MACHINIST 


McGRAW-HILL  BOOK  COMPANY,  INC. 

SOLE  SELLING  AGENTS 

239  WEST  39TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

1918 


COPYRIGHT,  1918,  BY  THE 
McGRAW-HILL  BOOK  COMPANY,  INC. 


w 
d 


FOREWORD 

For  years  the  word  "  Small  Shop "  conveyed  to  one's  mind  the  impression  of 
hard  work  and  no  profits.  The  owner  of  a  small  shop  was  regarded  with  pity  and 
looked  upon  as  one  having  the  responsibilities  of  a  capitalist  and  the  net  income  of  a 
day  laborer.  Small  shop  ownership  was  a  temporary  affair  and  the  sign  painter 
made  frequent  visits  to  the  same  institution  to  change  the  -name  of  the  proprietor  on 
the  "  shop  shingle." 

Now  the  small  shop  is  recognized  as  an  honorable  and  also  a  profitable  institution. 

The  change  itself  and  the  recognition  of  the  position  of  the  small  shop  by  the 
mechanical  public  has  been  materially  helped  and  in  fact  largely  effected  by  the 
American  Machinist's  "  Small  Shop  Series  "  which  was  the  first  consistent  attempt  to 
help  the  small  shop  find  itself  and  to  help  the  mechanical  public  to  find  the  small  shop. 

So  effective  was  this  series  that  after  publication  in  the  American  Machinist,  re- 
peated demand  made  necessary  the  republication  of  these  articles  in  book  form.  The 
first  fifty  articles  were  gathered  together  under  the  title  of  "  Success  in  the  Small 
Shop,"  of  which  successive  editions  have  been  printed  in  response  to  the  demand  of 
those  interested  in  making  small  shops  successful. 

The  present  volume  "  Making  the  Small  Shop  Profitable  "  is  a  collection  of  the 
later  writings  of  the  same  author  on  important  phases  of  small  shop  activity.  It 
contains  also  an  illustrated  encyclopedia  of  small  shop  methods  or  "  kinks "  which 
should  prove  of  the  utmost  practical  value  to  the  mechanic  whose  means  for  doing 
work  are  restricted  to  what  is  ordinarily  found  in  the  small  shop. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


^41031 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE v 

GETTING  "  INTO  "  THE  SMALL  SHOP 1 

LIMITING  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 3 

USING  SKILL  FOB  CAPITAL  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 5 

FINDING  THE  TURNING  POINT  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 7 

WEIGHING  PATTERNS  AND  CASTINGS  BY  DISPLACEMENT  OF  WATER 9 

SPRING  FEVER  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP               '. 10 

MAKING  PATTERNS  AND  CASTINGS  FOR  THE  SMALL  SHOP 12 

THE  SMALL  SHOP  GRINDING  WHEEL 14 

THE  SMALL  SHOP  GRINDER 17 

A  HANDY  CLIP  FOR  HANGING  WET  BLUEPRINTS 19 

KNURLING  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 20 

SCREW  THREADS  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 25 

MEASURING  SCREW  THREADS  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 28 

LIFTING  THE  SHAPEB  CHUCK 30 

HARDENING  AND  SOFTENING  STEEL  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 31 

BORING  PUMP  CHAMBERS  IN  THE  DRILLING  MACHINE 33 

A  HANDY  DRIVER  FOR  KEMOVING  SHELL  SOCKETS 33 

CARBONIZING  SMALL  SHOP  STEELS 34 

CASEHARDINO  SMALL  SHOP  STEELS 36 

TAKING  SMALL  SHOP  TEMPERATURE 38 

PAINTING  SMALL  SHOP  PRODUCTS 41 

CARING  FOR  SMALL  SHOP  BEARINGS 47 

A  BUILT  UP  LIMIT  GAGE 49 

SPECIAL  FORM  OF  HOLLOW  MILL     . 49 

RADIUS  PLANING  TOOLS 49 

METHODS  OF  LOCATING  MACHINERY  FOUNDATION 50 

END  MILL  FOR  BABBITT 52 

STANDARDISING  SHOP  DRAWINGS  FOR  MACHINE  DETAILS 53 

LUBRICATING  OILS  AND  CUTTING  COMPOUNDS  FOR  SHOP  USE 56 

PREVENTING  LORAL  SHRINKAGE  IN  ALUMINUM  CASTING 61 

ADJUSTABLE  DRIVE 61 

WENCH,  VISE  AND  ASSEMBLING  METHODS 62 

DEVICES  THAT  MAKE  LATHES  PROFITABLE 63 

MONEY  SAVING  ASSEMBLING  METHODS 64 

PROFIT  MAKING  DEVICES  FOR  TURNING 65 

BORING  AND  TURNING  KINKS 66 

A  VARIETY  OF  TIME  SAVING  KINKS 67 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

A  NUMBER  OF  IDEAS  FOR  PLANERS 68 

GRIPPING  AND  HANDLING  KINKS 69 

CHUCKS  AND  TUBNING 70 

HANDY  KINKS  FOR  THE  HANDY  MAN 71 

HELPING  THE  DRILLING  MACHINE  TO  EAKN  A  PROFIT 72 

VARIOUS  LOCKNUT  AND  LOCKING  DEVICES 74 

Six  HELPS  FOR  THE  SMALL  SHOP  LATHE 78 

CONVENIENT  KINKS  FOR  THE  SMALL  SHOP  ASSEMBLES 79 

SOME  USEFUL  PLANER  KINKS 80 

A  VARIETY  OF  EXPANDING  ARBORS 81 

IDEAS  FOR  THE  SMALL  SHOP  BLACKSMITH 82 

PLANER  AND  SHAPEH  DEVICES  THAT  SAVE  MONEY 84 

A  COLLECTION  OF  BELT  CUTTING  DEVICES 85 

A  NUMBER  OF  WAYS  TO  CUT  PINS  IN  QUANTITIES 86 

SPRING  WINDING  AND  CUTTING 87 

VARIOUS  METHODS  OF  DRIVING  AND  PULLING  BUSHINGS 88 

MAKING  THE  DRILLING  MACHINE  EARN  DIVIDENDS 90 

BENCH  AND  VISE  KINKS  OF  SHOP  VALUE 91 

STUNTS  THAT  MAKE  SHAPEHS  EARN  PROFITS  AND  PAY  DIVIDENDS .     92 

A  COLLECTION  OF  BENCH  AND  VISE  KINKS 93 

SLIDE  REST  KINKS  AND  CUTTING  TOOL  STUNTS .     94 

HINTS  THAT  WILL  HELP  THE  EFFICIENT  LATHE  HAND .95 

GEAR  DENTISTRY  AND  OTHER  KINKS 96 

SEVEN  APPLICATIONS  OF  "  OLD  MEN  " 97 

VARIOUS  WAYS  OF  PULLING  KEYS .     99 

WORK  BENCH  AND  OTHER  KINKS .   100 

MORE  VISE  KINKS 102 

KNEE  AND  FOOT  OPERATING  DEVICES  FOR  THE  BENCH 103 

CLAMPING  AND  HOLDING  MATERIAL  IN  VISES 104 

USEFUL  DEVICES  FOR  THE  SHOP 105 

HAND  WHEEL  SPANNERS  AND  OTHER  KINKS     . 106 

VARIOUS  TYPES  OF  JACKS  AND  CLAMPS 107 

INTERNAL,  EXTERNAL  AND  END  LAPPING  DEVICES     .      . .      .108 

ROUGH  INTERNAL  LAPPING  DEVICES 109 

DIFFERENT  TYPES  OF  PIPE  HANGERS '...'..   110 

INDEX  .      . Ill 


Getting  "Into"  the  Small  Shpp 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTEE 


SYNOPSIS  —  Some  customers  have  developed 
highly  efficient  ways  of  working  up  a  fictitious 
credit,  with  the  object  of  "putting  one  over  "  on  the 
small  shop  when  the  time  is  ripe.  This  article  re- 
lates one  such  instance,  which  had  the  effect  of 
closing  the  doors  of  a  small  marine  repair  shop. 
Incidentally  it  introduces  the  reader  to  Dave 
Hope,  the  Knight-Errant  Machinist. 

"  Kivet  a  washer  on  the  end  of  your  cold  chisel,  Sonny !  " 

Dave  Hope  addressed  this  bit  of  advice  to  the  new  ap- 
prentice, whose  hand  was  swollen  to  twice  its  natural  size 
as  the  result  of  well-intentioned  but  misaimed  hammer 
blows.  The  lad  has  passed  the  stage  of  looking  for  left- 
hand  monkey-wrenches  and  of  being  sent  from  machine 
to  machine  in  search  for  the  key  of  the  big  planer,  and 
was  now  learning  the  rudiments  of  chipping.  Dave 
Hope's  repair  -shop  was  a  good  place  in  which  to  learn 
this  art,  for  there  were  plenty  of  castings  to  chip,  and 
hardly  any  two  of  them  were  alike.  Incidentally  it  was 
a  great  privilege  for  a  boy  to  learn  his  trade  in  Dave's 
shop,  for  its  owner  was  a  real  "  all  around "  machinist, 
and  an  apprentice  trained  by  him  was  able  to  use  both 
head  and  hands  when  he  stepped  out  of  his  time. 

It  will  not  be  amiss  to  introduce  Dave  to  you  with  a 
description  of  the  man  and  a  brief  outline  of  his  check- 
ered career,  for  it  is  my  hope  to  be  able  to  recount  from 
time  to  time  during  the  year  some  of  the  most  interest- 
ing of  his  adventures  in  small  shops.  Please  overlook 
the  single  grimy  finger  that  he  extends  you  in  greeting, 
and  grasp  him  by  the  hand,  for  I  know  that  American* 
Machinist  readers',  will  not  hesitate  because  of  the  signs 
of  honest  toil  that  are  upon  it. 

Dave  is  one  of  those  men  whose  age  it  is  hard  to  tell 
from  his  appearance.  The  youthful  expression  of  his 
face  seems  to  contradict  the  evidence  presented  by  his 
white  hair  and  mustache,  and  his  tall,  somewhat  spare 
figure  is  as -active  as  that  of  a  man  of  30.  He  started  to 
serve  his  time  in  a  railroad  repair  shop  when  a  boy  of  12, 
in  the  days  'when  a  railroad-shop  apprenticeship  meant  a 
much  more  varied  experience  than  it  does  at  present.  A 
few  years  of  knocking  about  the  country  followed  this, 
during  which  he  carefully  avoided  the  big  "manufac- 
turing shops,"  for  Dave,  as  he  says  himself,  "  never  did 
have  a;  liking  for  doing  the  same  thing  twice." 

DAVE  HOPE,  THE  KNIGHT-ERRANT  MACHINIST 

One  fairly  large  repair  shop  in  the  West  Virginia  coal 
fields  held  him  for  18  months — not  because  Dave  was  be- 
ginning to  settle  down,  but  because  he  had  a  good  paying 
job  as  foreman,  and  board  was  cheap.  He  was  beginning 
to  get  the  "  shop  of  his  own  "  idea,  and  this  seemed  like 
a.  good  chance  to  get  the  necessary  money  to  start  with. 
It  was  while  here  that  Dave  Hope's  hair  turned  gray, 
due  to  being  caught  by  a  "  fall "  while  directing  the  instal- 
lation of  a  receiver  on  an  air  line  in  the  lower  level. 
Three  days  in  darkness  after  the  safety  lamps  burned  out 
left  their  physical  effect  upon  him,  but  seemed  to  make 
no  impression  on  his, spirit;  or  if  any,  it  was  to  strengthen 
his  disregard  of  danger  or  obstacles  standing  in  the  way. 


Then  began  his  adventur'-j^  ;y?itl>'  email',  shop's  of  his 
own  —  many  of  them,  but  one  shop  at  a  time  —  most  of 
them  disastrous  financially,  for  Dave  is  no  "  captain  of 
industry,"  but  rather  a  "  knight-errant  machinist "  who 
loves  to  venture  where  those  seeking  more  substantial  re- 
turn fear  to  tread.  And  while  he  has  attended  the  ob- 
sequies of  more  defunct  plants  than  any  other  man  of  my 
acquaintance,  the  funeral  services  are  scarcely  over  be- 
fore you  find  Dave  installed  in  another  shop  in  which  he 
does  what  he  pleases  in  the  way  that  suits  him  best. 
While  these  many  changes  have  kept  him  rather  poor  in 
pocket,  they  have  made  him  rich  in  experience  and  char- 
acter, and  as  a  curious  result  he  has  a  sort  of  camp  fol- 
lowing among  those  who  work  for  him.  Thus  as  I 
leaned  against  the  bench  and  heard  him  deliver  the  fore- 
going words  of.  advice  to  the  apprentice,  I  could  pick  out 
among  those  working  about  the  shop,  faces  which  I  had 
seen  both  in  his  shop  in  Philadelphia  and  in  the  one  in 
Kansas  City,  where  our  acquaintance  began. 

THE  KIND  OF  EXPERIENCE  THAT  STICKS 
^   :• 

"  That  kid  with  the  sore  thumb  is  getting  experience," 
remarked  Dave.  "We  all  get  it  that  way,  and  it's  the 
only  way  that  seems  to  stick.  Life  is  a  series  of  bumps 
from  the  time  you  slide  off  the  first  step  till  you  hit  the 
bottom  landing.  It's  all  in  getting  used  to  it.  You  can 
even  get  so  you  like  it,  as  the  boy  did  who  had  the  measles 
three  times.  Sometimes  it's  a  money  loss,  sometimes  a 
machine  won't  work  as  you  expect,  and  sometimes  a  dis- 
appointment in  human  nature.  The  hardest  kind  of  a 
bump  is  when  a  man  you  trust  goes  back  on  you.  I've 
had  a  number  of  such  experiences,  and  while  I  can  look 
back  now  and  see  the  funny  side  of  them,  the  sore  spot 
lasted  much  longer  than  it  did  with  the  ordinary  kind 
of  bumps. 

"  Maybe  it  will  interest  your  readers  to  hear  of  a  lesson 
I  learned  about  extending  credit.  I  hope  other  small- 
shop  owners  may  profit  by  it,  and  that  it  will  help  some 
of  them  to  avoid  paying  the  price  that  I  did  for  this  kind 
of  experience. 

"  If  you've  been  along  Long  Island  Sound  during  the 
summer  season,  you've  noticed  what  a  slew  of  motor 
boats  and  steam  yachts  there  are  dotting  the  bays  outside 
of  the  summer-resort  towns.  I  noticed  this  about  nine 
years  ago,  and  also  that  about  five  boat  owners  out  of 
seven  seemed  to  have  trouble  with  their  motors  when 
they  got  50  ft.  away  from  the  dock.  Of  course  this 
wasn't  to  be  wondered  at.  Many  of  the  owners  were 
clerks  from  the  city  who  knew  as  much  about  taking  care 
of  an  engine  as  that  green  apprentice  boy  does  about 
swinging  a  hammer.  The  boats  were  mostly  hand-me- 
downs;  not  merely  second  hand,  but  seventh  or  eighth 
hand,  and  in  addition  the  gasoline  that  those  alongshore 
dealers  worked  off  on  that  bunch  of  innocents  was  so 
weak  that  it  could  hardly  run  even  when  the  can  was 
turned  upside  down. 

"  I  didn't  have  a  shop  just  at  that  time,  and  the  idea 
struck  me  that  here  was  an  opportunity  that  a  good  me- 
chanic might  turn  to  advantage.  This  was  before  the 
automobile  became  common,  remember,  and  there  were 
not  many  machinists  in  those  days  who  understood  the 


(1) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


kinks  and  troubles  of  small  gasoline  motors.  At  kv.st 
those  that-I  .fpimd  in  the  existing  shops  along  the  water- 
front didn't  'know  much  about  them,  judging  by  the  work 
they  turned  £«£.. 

"  AfteK  look  ing' ;ii>6n|  fcr  a  wesk  or  so,  I  ran  across  a 
place  that  looked  good  to  me.  The  shop  stood  up  on 
posts  at  the  water's  edge  and  had  a  dock  of  its  own.  The 
equipment  was  nothing  to  brag  about,  consisting  of  two 
lathes  in  fair  condition,  one  of  16-iii.  and  one  of  18-in. 
swing,  a  more  or  less  dilapidated  gap  lathe  built  up  to 
swing  48  in.,  a  shaper  that  had  seen  better  days,  a  pipe 
threader  and  two  upright  drills.  I  guess  what  really  at- 
tracted me  to  the  place  more  than  anything  else  was 
seeing  a  small  boy  catch  three  fine  flounders  in  quick 
succession  from  the  end  of  the  dock.  It  looked  to  me 
like  a  good  place  for  a  fisherman  to  locate! 

"  It  was  about  the  middle  of  June  that  I  came  into 
possession.  I  managed  to  get  enough  cash  together  to 
make  a  satisfactory  first  payment  and  started  in  to  get 
some  of  the  money  back.  Reddy  Burke,  that  you  see  over 
there  on  the  miller,  was  with  me,  and  so  was  Sandy 
McPherson,  the  fellow  with  his  back  turned  to  us,  who 
is  fitting  a  key  at  that  bench.  People  were  just  getting 
their  boats  out  and  a  quite  a  bit  of  overhauling  was  to  be 
done.  A  good  many  of  them  came  to  us  because  they 
knew  we  couldn't  do  any  worse  by  them  than  the  other 
shops  and  might  possibly  do  better. 

"  At  first  most  of  the  work  was  on  small  motors,  one 
and  two  cylinders,  ranging  from  4  to  20  hp.  We  turned 
out  good  work  on  these,  and  the  reputation  brought  us 
some  of  the  larger  boats  and  a  better  grade  of  work  along 
with  it.  There  was  one  boat  that  we  couldn't  touch.  It 
was  the  largest  craft  that  anchored  at  the  port,  a  90-ft. 
steam  yacht  with  twin  triple  engines.  It  seems  that  in 
this  world  what  you  can't  get  is  what  you  want  most,  and 
it  bothered  us  a  lot  to  see  the  work  on  that  boat  go 
to  a  fellow  a  quarter  mile  up  the  bay,  especially  as  we 
knew  what  sort  of  mechanic  he  was.  The  '  Alice,'  that 
was  her  name,  made  regular  trips  across  the  sound  and 
carried  passengers  back  and  forth  from  the  shore  re- 
sorts on  each  side. 

ALICE,  WHERE  ART  THOU? 

"  Business  kent  un  pretty  good,  and  by  the  end  of 
July  we  had  taken  in  enough  over  and  above  expenses 
to  make  the  second  payment  on  the  shop.  At  this  rate 
we  would  be  clear  before  the  end  of  the  season.  Any 
reasonable  man  ought  to  have  been  satisfied  with  that, 
but  in  spite  of  it  our  fingers  itched  to  get  hold  of  the 
'  Alice '  and  get  a  chance  at  work  that  was  really  worth 
while. 

"  One  afternoon  about  four,  we  were  all  busy  in  the 
shop  when  somebody  hailed  from  the  end  of  the  dock.  I 
started  out  to  find  what  was  wanted  and  saw  a  short 
stout  fellow  climbing  out  of  a  dinghy  that  was  tied  to 
one  of  the  spiles  at  the  landing  platform.  When  I  got  a 
look  at  his  face  I  saw  that  he  was  Captain  Skinner  of  the 
'  Alice.' 

" '  Anybody  here  that  understands  high-pressure  feed 
pumps  ? '  he  asked. 

''  It  took  me  about  two  minutes  to  explain  to  the  cap- 
tain that  there  were  three  men  in  our  shop  who  knew 
more  about  high-pressure  feed  pumps  than  any  six  that 
he  could  find  if  he  offered  a  reward  for  them  anywhere 
in  the  United  States.  I  don't  know  whether  he  believed 


it  or  not,'  but  ho  was  up  against  it,  £o  Sandy  went  out  in 
the  dinghy,  taking  his  tool  kit  with  him. 

"He  turned  up  again  in  an  hour  and  a  half  with  some' 
samples  of  mush  that  had  clogged  up  the  discharge  check 
valve  and  prevented  the  pump  from  doing  its  work. 
'  Nothing  the  matter  with  the  pumps,'  said  Sandy.  '  The 
trouble  was  with  the  last  butcher  that  overhauled  it  and 
put  in  cold-water  packing! ' 

"  Captain  Skinner  came  to  us  to  have  his  work  done 
after  that,  and  while  all  the  jobs  were  small  ones,  it  made 
us  feel  pretty  good  to  think  that  the  '  Alice  '  had  had  to 
come  to  Hope's  Marine  Repair  Shop  at  last.  Nobody 
could  have  been  any  better  pay  than  the  captain;  he  never 
questioned  a  bill  and  settled  each  one  within  ten  days, 

"  After  the  middle  of  August,  work  slacked  up  a  bit. 
Most  of  the  boats  would  be  put  up  after  Labor  Day,  and 
the  owners  were  beginning  to  cut  down  expenses  and  get 
along  with  motors  that  would  run  at  all,  just  as  nowa- 
days you  see  a  fine  lot  of  decrepit  auto  tires  displayed  in 
the  fall.  We  hadn't  figured  on  this,  and  it  hurt  us  more 
than  I  cared  to  admit. 

A  JOB  THAT  LOOKED  LIKE  A  LIFE-SAVER 

"  It  looked  like  a  life-saver  when,  the  day  after  Labor 
Day,  Captain  Skinner  turned  up  with  a  three-weeks' 
job  for  us  on  the  '  Alice ' —  nothing  less  than  a  complete 
overhauling  of  the  twin  triple  engines  and  all  of  the 
auxiliaries.  The  three  of  us  moved  over  to  the  '  Alice ' 
next  day  with  our  tool  kits,  and  settled  down  to  three 
weeks  of  the  hardest  work  we  ever  did.  All  of  us  had 
corns  on  our  backs  from  working  in  the  engine  pit. 

"  At  the  start  of  the  third  week  Captain  Skinner  asked 
me  to  try  to  finish  up  by  the  coming  Saturday  morning. 
As  there  was  some  work  waiting  for  us  at  the  shop,  we 
decided  to  work  overtime  nights  so  as  to  be  sure  to 
clean  up  by  Friday  night.  By  Thursday  noon  we  saw 
that  we  would  finish  within  the  limit,  but  we  were  all 
three  so '  tired  out  and  short-tempered  that  we  had  to 
invent  new  cuss  words  to  pay  our  respects  to  each  other, 
having  exhausted  all  of  the  ordinary  ones. 

"  Friday  night  we  turned  her  over  to  the  captain, 
everything  shipshape  and  better  than  new.  I  figured  that 
there  was  close  to  a  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  time  and 
material  on  that  job,  and  it  was  worth  every  penny  of 
it.  The  captain  wanted  to  give  her  a  trial  spin  Saturday 
morning  and  insisted  that  I  go  along  with  him  to  see 
that  everything  was  all  right;  but  in  view  of  all  of  the 
work  waiting  at  the  shop  this  was  impossible,  so  I  told 
him  to  try  her  out  with  his  own  crew.  I  was  sure  of 
the  job  and  knew  it  would  be  all  right.  I  handed  him 
the  bill  for  the  work,  and  he  said  he  would  settle  next 
evening  if  nothing  went  wrong. 

"  We  went  to  work  at  6  o'clock  next  morning  to  catch 
up  with  the  accumulated  work.  At  8  o'clock  one  of  the 
boys  looked  out  of  the  window  and  said  that  st3am  was 
up  on  the  '  Alice.'  At  8 :30  she  began  to  move, 
and  we  all  rushed  to  the  window  to  give  her  a 
wave  for  good  luck.  On  she  went  down  the  bay 
toward  the  outlet,  looking  as  pretty  as  a  picture  and 
making  a  good  two  knots  more  than  she  had  been  ca- 
pable of  before  we  overhauled  her.  She  rounded  the 
headland,  and  we  went  back  to  work  feeling  that  we  had 
done  a  good  job. 

"  We  had ;  but  so  had  Cavitain  Skinner,  for  that  was 
the  last  we  ever  saw  of  the  '  Alice  '  !  " 


(2) 


Limiting  Improvements  in  the  Small  Shop 


BY  JOHN-  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  — Dave  Hope  tells  of  the  small-shop 
experiences  of  two  of  his  acquaintances.  One  of 
t,.em  was  a  "stick-in-the-m'id"  who  became  a  Cap- 
tain of  Industry;  t/.e  other,  a  brilliant  but  erratic 
individual,  finished  up  as  he  began— in  a  nut  fac- 
tory. This  article  explains  why  some  of  us  are 
not  millionaires. 

"  No,  sir !  It's  a  very  promising  machine,  but  I  don't 
want  to  make  it." 

Dave  Hope  was  delivering  this  ultimatum  to  a  young 
mechanic  and  inventor  who  had  worked  out  an  ingen- 
ious device  and  wanted  Dave  to  manufacture  it.  The  lad 
had  brought  for  inspection  a  working  model  that  was  beau- 
tifully finished  and  that  went  through  its  motions  in 
such  an  unusual  yet  precise  way  that  no  real  mechanic 
could  have  examine'!  it  without  being  interested.  In 
fact,  the  interest  that  Dave  had  displayed  and  the  way 
that  he  had  fingered  the  model  had  raised  the  inventor's 
hopes  to  a  high  point,  and  his  keen  disappointment  at 
the  final  decision  was  evident. 

"  I'm  too  much  of  a  mechanic  to  manufacture  a  machine 
of  that  kind,  or  in  fact  to  manufacture  anything  at 
all."  said  Dave,  taking  note  of  the  young  man's  feelings. 
"  That  is  why  I  stick  to  contract  work  and  to  making 
experimental  machines  to  order.  No  machine  that  I  could 
manufacture  would  ever  suit  me,  and  I  should  be  adding 
and  improving  all  the  time,  which  would  be  fatal  to  the 
finances." 

"  If  a  good  mechanic  won't  manufacture  a  good  machine, 
who  is  a  fellow  to  go  to  ?  "  asked  the  inventor  despondently, 
reaching  for  his  model. 

"Wait  a  bit  —  don't  go  yet,"  said  Dave.  "I  want  to 
tell  you  about  Jones  and  Jenks;  perhaps  it  may  help  to 
answer  your  question. 

ALBERT  JONES,  THE  NATURAL  IMPROVER 

"  Albert  Jones  was  one  of  the  smartest  mechanics  that 
ever  lived.  It  came  natural  to  him  to  improve  things, 
and  when  he  was  in  a  shop  he  was  always  suggesting  bet- 
ter ways  of  doing  things.  At  night  he'd  spend  his  spare 
time  thinking  up  new  machines  and  making  sketches  of 
them,  just  for  fun,  throwing  them  away  after  they  were 
all  completed. 

"  Al  got  a  job  as  '  improver '  in  a  big  shop.  He  was 
right  at  home  at  this  work  and  made  himself  valuable. 
One  day,  perhaps,  he'd  be  figuring  a  new  way  to  chuck 
pistons  and  the  next  be  sketching  up  an  attachment  to 
convert  a  drilling  machine  into  a  die  sinker.  Variety 
was  his  spice  of  life,  and  he  never  had  to  do  the  same  thing 
twice. 

''  A  man  who  lived  as  quietly  and  got  as  good  pay  as 
Al  did  couldn't  help  but  save  money,  and  after  a  few 
years  he  had  a  lump  salted  away  so  big  that  it  bothered 
him  to  decide  what  he  ought  to  do  with  it.  Finally, 
he  concluded  to  open  a  shop  of  his  own  and  start  manu- 
facturing. 


"  The  day  after  he  had  arrived  <it  this  decision  he  was 
called  into  the  blacksmith  department  to  scheme  some 
way  of  keeping  nuts  from  bouncing  off  the  helve-hammer 
bolts  and  to  prevent  the  bolts  themselves  from  breaking. 
He  sat  up  until  3  a.  m.  the  next  morning,  scheming  and 
sketching  and  scratching  his  head,  and  finally  invented 
a  shock-absorbing  locknut.  The  following  day  he  quit  his 
job  and  filed  a  patent  application. 

"  That  locknut  was  the.  best  thing  of  its  kind  that  ever 
was.  It  would  hang  on  like  a  suffragette,  and  its  shock- 
absorbing  qualities  were  without  equal.  A  mighty  good 
thing  to  start  a  manufacturing  business  on,  was  that 
nut,  because  it  could  be  made  in  three  operations  by  the 
crudest  kind  of  help  and  sold  for  a  price  that  was  an 
inducement,  even  if  it  hadn't  had  such  good  qualities 
besides. 

AL  GETS  BUSY  WITH  PATENT  LOCK  NUTS 

"  Al  had  his  plant  going  two  months  before  the  patent 
was  issued  and  was  forced  to  add  a  couple  of  men  every 
week  to  keep  up  with  the  demand  of  a  public  that  was 
hungry  for  shock-absorbing  locknuts.  In  six  months  he 
had  designed  and  built  special  machines  that  would  turn 
the  nuts  out  almost  as  fast  as  a  boy  could  carry  them 
away.  Things  looked  very  rosy  indeed  for  Al  —  to  an 
outsider. 

"  There  was  one  big  defect  in  it  from  his  point  of 
view  —  the  thing  couldn't  be  improved  upon.  It  was  so 
simple  and  perfect  that  nothing  in  that  line  could  be  any 
better.  An  ordinary  man  would  have  been  very  well 
pleased  at  such  a  state  of  things,  but  not  Al.  All  of  the 
inventiveness  and  ingenuity  in  his  system  was  corked 
up,  so  to  speak,  and  was  building  up  a  pressure  that 
was  bound  in  time  to  blow  the  cork  out  —  that  cork  being 
the  shock-absorbing  locknut !  He  began  to  detest  the 
sight  of  one.  '  Why  should  a  man  with  brains  tie  him- 
self up  for  life  to  a  dinky  one-piece  contraption  like 
that  ? '  he  would  ask  himself.  Then  he  would  lay  off  for 
the  rest  of  the  day,  go  back  to  his  room,  put  his  stock- 
ing-clad feet  on  the  radiator  and  dream  of  complicated 
mechanical  stunts  that  would  make  an  ordinary  man  dizzy 
to  think  about. 

WILLIAM  JENKS  PARTS  WITH  TEN  THOUSAND  PLUNKS 

"  Al  was  a  man  who  had  to  act  quickly  when  an  idea 
struck  him,  so  he  sold  out  his  shock-absorbing  nut  busi- 
ness to  a  boob  by  the  name  of  William  Jenks,  who  had 
as  much  inventive  ingenuity  as  an  Eskimo's  totem  pole, 
but  who  seemed  perfectly  satisfied  to  give  $10,000  for  a 
business  worth  five  times  as  much.  Then  our  inventive 
friend  turned  himself  loose  again  like  a  colt  in  a  pasture 
and  began  to  put  lines  on  paper  and  take  a  fresh  interest 
in  life. 

"  The  result  of  his  mental  cyclone  was  a  patented  adjust- 
able universal  reamer  that  had  a  range  of  something 
like  an  inch  in  diameter  for  one  tool  as  against  the  ordi- 
nary range  of  adjustment  which  begins  with  a  decimal 
point  followed  by  a  naught.  Where  the  locknut  had 
been  but  a  one-piece  article,  this  tool  had  27  parts,  not 


(3) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


counting  the  screws,  and  therefore  looked  37  times  as 
good  to  Al,  who  saw  plenty  of  opportunity  for  improve- 
ments and  evenings  filled  with  enjoyable  mechanical 
meditation. 

"  It  .took  considerably  longer  to  put  the  reamer  on  a 
paying  basis  than  it  had  to  make  a  go  of  the  locknut. 
In  fact,  it  cost  Al  so  much  money  to  start  things  and 
improve  them  a  bit  that  he  was  forced  to  take  in  a  part- 
ner —  a  mean  man  of  money  without  high  mechanical 
ideals,  whose  motto  was,  '  Let  well  enough  alone ! '  Of 
course,  Al  couldn't  work  in  harmony  with  a  dub  of  this 
kind,  so  in  a  year  he  sold  his  interest  to  the  dub  for  $5,000 
and  breathed  freely  once  more. 

A  VERTICAL  LATHE  FOR  SHAFT  TURNING 

"  The  next  venture  of  friend  Al  was  a  duplex  lathe  that 
would  turn  two  shafts  at  once  and  which,  to  save  room, 
stood  in  a  vertical  position  instead  of  horizontal.  Al 
said  that,  while  there  were  a  number  of  vertical  machines 
for  chuck  work,  the  vertical  center-work  field  needed  con- 
siderable improving.  He  produced  a  design  that  had 
several  original  features,  one  of  them  being  the  feed  screw 
that  was  exactly  in  the  center  of  the  tool  carriage,  this 
latter  sliding  within  the  body  of  the  lathe,  a  pair  of 
headstocks  and  tailstocks  being  arranged  on  each  side. 
He  had  quite  a  bit  of  fun  improving  this  machine,  espe- 
cially in  getting  oil  to  stay  in  the  vertical  headstock  bear- 
ings. By  the  time  the  sheriff  came  to  the  rescue  and 
the  last  balance  sheet  was  struck,  Al  came  away  with 
$2,500  and  a  sense  of  relief  at  the  prospect  of  tackling 
something  new. 

"  One  of  his  friends  told  him  that  if  he  wanted  a  chance 
to  let  loose  the  full  power  of  his  wonderful  improving 
ability  he  should  get  into  the  automatic  game,  where 
there  was  a  chance  to  pull  off  something  big.  This 
sounded  pretty  good  to  Al;  but  $2,500  wasn't  enough  to 
break  into  the  automatic  game  with,  so  he  decided  not 
to  manufacture  the  machine,  but.  to  design  one  and  get 
somebody  else  to  build  it. 

"  He  had  considerable  trouble  with  his  landlady,  who 
insisted  on  getting  into  his  room  once  a  week  to  pick  the 
papers  off  the  floor,  she  being  afraid  to  let  them  accum- 
ulate for  a  longer  time  than  that  because  of  the  fire- 
insurance  policy.  This  upset  the  inventing  process  badly, 
Al  needing  one  or  two  days  after  each  weekly  clean-up 
to  get  the  papers  back  on  the  floor  again  in  their  proper 
order.  In  spite  of  this,  after  a  year  of  scheming  and 
scratching  he  had  an  automatic  machine  that  had  more 
improved  features  than  anything  made  before.  It  wasn't 
hard  to  get  a  patent  on  such  an  original  batch  of  improve- 
ments, and  a  few  months  later,  armed  with  official  docu- 
ments from  Washington,  Al  started  out  to  find  a 
builder. 

FINDING  A  BUILDER  FOR  THE  SUPERAUTOMATIC 

"  He  called  on  a  man  in  the  automatic  business  and 
explained  in  detail  how  superior  the  Jones  superauto- 
matic  was  to  the  machine  produced  by  the  company.  He 
not  only  told  .it,  but  proved  it,  convincing  the  engineers 
and  experts  who  were  called  in  to  examine  the  plans.  Evi- 
dently, the  Jones  superautomatic  would  be  a  clean  sweep ! 
Al  was  told  to  leave  his  plans  and  to  call  again  in  a 
week. 


"  He  was  received  very  cordially  by  the  president.  '  My 
dear  Mr.  Jones,'  said  this  gentleman,  '  we  will  offer  you 
an  exceptional  contract  for  your  invention.  We  wish  the 
exclusive  right  to  this  and  all  improvements  that  you 
may  make  and  in  return  will  pay  you  a  royalty  of  $500 
per  machine.  At  this  extraordinary  figure  we  will  expect 
you  to  act  as  consulting  engineer  and  give  a  portion  of 
your  time  to  improving  this  device.  Sign  here  on  the 
bottom  line ! ' 

"  I  hardly  need  to  say  that  Al  signed.  The  president's 
words  about  '  improving '  were  even  a  stronger  inducement 
than  the  $500  per. 

"  For  several  weeks  the  inventor  of  the  Jones  super- 
automatic  lived  in  the  clouds.  He  worked  out  all  sorts 
of  further  improvements  and  turned  them  over  to  the  com- 
pany, which  seemed  to  be  rather  slow  in  getting  started 
on  the  first  machine. 

"  After  six  months  passed  in  the  same  way,  our  friend 
began  to  be  worried,  especially  as  he  was  no  longer 
admitted  to  the  plant.  He  lay  in  wait  for  the  president 
one  day  and  accused  him  of  not  living  up  to  his  con- 
tract. '  My  man,'  said  this  individual,  '  go  back  and  read 
your  contract  We  agreed  to  give  you  a  royalty  of  $500 
for  each  machine  built  and  so  far  have  lived  up  to  your 
agreement  absolutely.' 

a  What  the  president  of  the  company  had  really  done 
was  to  get  Al  out  of  the  automatic  field,  where  he  would 
have  been  a  dangerous  man.  His  endless  improvements 
would  have  kept  things  in  an  everlasting  state  of  change, 
just  as  the  man  who  finds  out  how  to  turn  lead  into  gold 
will  make  a  lot  of  trouble  for  everybody,  including  him- 
self. 

AL  JONES  GETS  A  GOVERNMENT  POSITION 

"  The  last  I  heard  of  Al  Jones  was  that  he  had  a  Gov- 
ernment position  with  board  and  lodging,  but  no  pay. 
He  was  engaged  in  making  chalk  marks  on  the  floor  of 
the  harmless  ward;  and  when  a  visitor  to  the  asylum 
asked  him  what  he  was  drawing,  he'd  say  it  was  an  improved 
automatic  automatic-machine-making  machine! 

"  As  time  went  on,  the  asylum  got  to  be  overcrowded 
and  a  new  building  badly  needed.  Nothing  could  be  done 
by  the  state,  however,  owing  to  the  high  cost  of  legislators, 
and  it  remained  for  a  public-spirited  Captain  of  Industry 
to  donate  two  or  three  millions  for  the  purpose.  Eather 
a  coincidence  it  was  that  this  money  to  build  a  home  for 
harmless  nuts  should  have  come  from  manufacturing 
shock-absorbing  locknuts!  But  then  William  Jenks,  who 
gave-  it,  although  a  boob,  was  a  good-hearted  sort  of 
chap."  .  , 

Dave  paused  a  moment  and  then  continued  with  spe- 
cific advice  to  the  young  inventor.  "  Now,  if  you  want 
to  make  a  success  of  your  machine,  find  some  man  with 
money,  but  without  ideas,  to  get  back  of  it  and  push  it." 

An  Ounce  of  Invention 

The  average  small  shop  with  the  average  invention  is  a 
case  of  gamble  pure  and  simple,  with  the  odds  99  to  1 
against  success.  No  doubt  about  this  at  all  for  far  less 
than  1  patent  in  100  is  successful.  If  you  regard  your 
small  shop  as  an  investment  and  run  it  as  such,  steer  clear 
of  the  patent  game  until  you  have  salted  away  enough 
to  provide  a  distinct  "  experimental  fund  "  that  you  can 
afford  to  lose. 


(4) 


Using  Skill  for  Capital  in  the  Small  Shop 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  Doing  what  other  people  cannot  do 
is  one  of  the  surest  ways  to  success  in  the  small- 
shop  field.  This  article  tells  of  a  New  England 
die-sinking  shop  that  is  making  good  on  a  line  of 
work  that  requires  a  high  degree  of  skill.  How 
large-shop  experience  helps  the  small-shop  owner 
to  operate  on  sound  and  systematic  lines  becomes 
evident. 

When  you  go  into  a  successful  small  shop,  you  are  often 
struck  with  the  resemblance  it  has  to  a  well-managed 
department  of  a  large  shop.  Evidently  there  are  certain 
earmarks  of  good  practice  that  apply  to  small  and  large 


ing  obtained  his  education  in  an  institution  richly  enough 
endowed  to  be  able  to  find  better  ways  of  doing  things 
by  experimentation,  as  distinguished  from  the  small-shop 
man  "  brung  up  "  in  the  small  shop,  who  must  cut  his  eye 
teeth  without  the  aid  of  a  dentist.  And  so  when  the 
ex-large-shop  man  starts  a  small  shop  he  is  apt  to  carry  in 
his  rnind  the  memory  of  the  large-shop  department  and  its 
way  of  doing  business. 

The  large-shop  idea  is  evident  in  the  small  shop  of 
Hollander  &  Johnson,  Worcester,  Mass.,  who  specialize  in 
drop- forge  die  sinking.  At  present  some  seventeen  men 
are  employed  in  this  shop,  which  is  a  rather  rapid  growth 
from  a  two-man  beginning  made  three  years  ago.  To  some 
extent  the  demand  for  drop-forge  dies  for  munition  mak- 


FIG.  1.     A  THREE-YEAR-OLD  DIE-SINKING  SHOP. 


shops  alike.  Some  of  them,  such  as  a  clean  floor,  orderly 
and  convenient  arrangement  of  machines,  proper  cup-< 
boards  for  small  equipment  and  tools,  may  be  classified, 
inventoried  and  written  down  in  plain  figures;  others  are 
more  vague  and  elusive,  but  can  nevertheless  be  quite 
plainly  felt  by  a  shopman's  sixth  sense.  Among  these  is 
the  perception  that  the  work  is  being  handled  to  advan- 
tage, from  both  the  customer's  and  the  shop  owner's  view- 
points. Time  study  would  paint  this  picture  after  a  month 
or  two — :the  sixth  sense  will  do  it  instantaneously,  tike  a 
"  snapshop  "  photograph. 

The  small-shop  owner  who  has  had  a  part  of  his  train- 
ing in  a  large  shop  is  somewhat  ahead  of  the  game,  hav- 


ing has  been  responsible  for  this  enlargement;  but  the 
start  in  the  right  direction  was  independent  of  this  con- 
dition, and  it  is  the  start  that  will  interest  other  small 
shops  having  a  large  capital  of  skill  and  a  small  capital 
of  cash. 

A  shop  struggling  for  a  start  cannot  pick  and  choose 
the  class  of  work  that  it  does.  Often  the  crucial  test 
comes  in  the  shape  of  an  order  for  work  that  is  apparently 
unsuited  to  the  machine  tools  at  hand.  In  this  case  it  was 
an  order  for  450  sets  of  molds  for  making  rubber  shoe- 
soles.  There  were  two  machines  available  for  this  work  — 
a  shaper  and  a  die  sinker  —  in  fact,  with  the  addition  of  a 
lathe  they  comprised  the  entire  shop  equipment.  Taking 


(5) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


the  order  for  these  450  molds  for  delivery  in  6  weeks  took 
both  nerve  and  hard  work;  but  the  task  was  accomplished 
by  operating  night  and  day,  and  doing  it  put  the  small 
shop  on  its  feet  —  one  might  say  a  pair  of  rubber-soled 
ones! 

S.   G.   Hollander   obtained   his   large-shop   experience   in 
drop-forge  dies  at  the  United  Shoe  Machinery  Co.'s  plant 


FIG.   2.      SINKING  RIFLU  BOLT  Dli^S 

at  Beverly,  Mass.,  where  he  had  charge  of  this  class  of 
work,  both  as  to  making  the  dies  and  using  them.  He  has 
retained  one  very  important  large-shop  feature  in  the  mak- 
ing of  such  things  —  the  division  of  labor  according  to  the 
degree  of  skill  required.  Some  small  die-making  shops 
are  run  on  the  old  toolroom  basis,  one  skilled  man  travel- 
ing about  from  machine  to  machine  and  taking  care  of  the 
job  from  start  to  finish.  The  large-shop  method  is  to  pass 
the  work  from  one  man  to  another,  each  one  a  specialist  on 
his  own  machine  or  bench,  and  this  scheme  is  applied  in 
the  small  shop  to  good  advantage  in  both  time  and 
money. 

The  properly  run  small  shop  can  take  work  requiring  a 
high   grade    of    skill   at    very    nearly    the    cost-to-make    in 


FIG. 


MOLDS  FOR  MAKING  RUBBER  HEELS 


the  big-shop  toolroom  and  como  out  with  a  profit.  Here 
lies  one  of  the  big  weanons  of  the  small  shop  in  hunting 
for  business,  and  it  is  due  to  the  low  overhead  expense  as 
comrared  with  the  high  one  in  the  big  plant.  A  shop  of 
fifteen  to  twenty  men,  in  which  the  owner  is  superintend- 
ent and  manager,  correspondent  and  time  clerk,  as  well  as 
on  frequent  occasions  a  die  maker  or  tool  maker,  will  show 


up  an  overhead  of  from  15  to  25  per  cent.,  as  compared 
with  the  100  to  150  per  cent,  of  the  big  shop.  If  this  fact 
is  thoroughly  mastered,  it  will  open  up  new  business  for 
the  small-shop  man  who  grasps  it  and  uses  it  as  a  selling 
argument. 

•  Another  feature  that  will  result  in  business  is  to  relieve 
the  large  shop  of  responsibility  and  detail.  Some  people 
cannot  get  enovigh  responsibility  to  suit  them,  but  the 
real  big  fellows  have  a  habit  of  placing  it  on  otheir 


A 


Kid.  4.      ARTICLES  PRODUCED  IN  SMALL-SHOP  MADE  DIES 
A  —  Military     riflfi    forcings:     B  —  Rubber    die    products;    C  — 
Auto    and    bicycle    fcn-fUna?  ;    D —  Bayonet    forgings ;    K    and    F  — 
Machine-gun   forgings;   G  —  Miscellaneous. 

shoulders  than  their  own  when  they  make  sure  that  these 
shoulders  are  broad  enough  to  carry  it.  The  small-shop 
man  with  small  views  is  apt  to  pin  the  responsibility  as 
closely  to  his  customer  as  he  can,  living  up  strictly  to  his 
blueprint.  The  small-shop  man  with  big  views  goes  at  it 
another  way,  saying:  "  Show  me  the  piece  you  want  made 
and  the  machine  on  which  you  want  to  make  it  and  leave 
the  rest  to  me.  I  will  be  responsible  for  the  result." 


(6) 


Finding  the  Turning  Point  in  the  Small  Shop 


BY  JOHN  II.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS — In  the  majority  of  successful  shops 
there  is  one  definite  turning  point  at  which  a  start 
is  made  toward  bigger  and  better  business.  Many 
times  this  change  is  made  unconsciously,  and  the 
turning  point  cannot  be  definitely  located.  In 
'this  case  tlie  installation  of  one  machine  changed 
the  shop  product  from  an  average  to  an  excep- 
tional one. 

A  small  shop  that  is  68  years  old  is  something  of  a 
rarity  and  is  therefore  of  interest  in  a  country  where 
plants  mushroom  over  night  as  if  under  the  spell  of 
Aladdin's  lamp.  That  a  small  shop  can  stand  the  buf- 
fetings  and  trials  of  68  years  of  competition  is  also  an 
interesting  fact,  establishing  as  it  does  that  the  small 
shop  is  after  all  of  a  hardy  and  robust  nature.  In  an 


FIG.    1.      THE    LABORATORY    OF   A   SMALL    SHOP    THAT 
SPECIALIZES    IN    HIGH-SPEED    STEEL 

instance  of  this  kind,  one  is  apt  to  look  for  work  a  little 
out  of  the  ordinary  in  order  to  account  for  such  a  long 
existence. 

Knife  grinding  in  the  old  days  before  the  advent  of 
the  surface  grinder  and  the  magnetic  chuck  was  an  opera- 
tion in  which  the  old-fashioned  grindstone  and  sidewheel 
labored  in  partnership  with  a  patient  grinder  hand  who 
was  unable  with  all  his  skill  to  grind  anything  really 
straight.  Fifteen-thousandths  of  an  inch  was  considered 
a  close  job  in  those  days.  Most  of  the  work  was  held 
and  fed  by  hand,  some  of  it  in  crude  fixtures  that  were 
as  likely  to  spring  the  knife  out  of  shape  as  to  hold  it 
flat.  Only  those  who  have  surface-ground  thin  stock  by 
such  means  in  the  past  can  appreciate  the  real  value  of 
the  magnetic  chuck. 

Prior  to  1906  this  was  the  way  that  A.  Hankey  &  Co., 
Rochdale,  Mass.,  were  grinding  knives.  A  rather  ordi- 
nary line  of  work,  one  might  say,  and  one  that  was  not 
at  all  uncommon  throughout  New  England,  where  knife 
grinding  in  America  was  indigenous. 

A  shop,  in  order  to  keep  up  with  the  times,  must  not 
only  study  its  own  rrogrcss  and  that  of  its  commtitors, 
but  —  and  more  important  —  it  must  keep  in  close  touch 


with  the  progress  and  tendencies  of  its  customers.  Shops 
exist  that  are  so  bound  up  in  themselves  that  self-interest 
is  a  far  bigger  factor  than  service,  and  other  shops  depend- 
ing on  these  for  a  part  of  their  products  oftentimes 
find  their  own  advancement  hindered  through  a  lack 
of  someone's  else  initiative.  At  the  time  of  which  I 
have  been  speaking,  when  knife  grinding  was  so  crudely 
handled,  a  class  of  knife  users  of  considerable  importance 
consisted  of  the  woodworking-machinery  manufacturers. 
Compared  with  the  present-day  product,  wood  planers  at 
this  time  were  crude  and  slow  machines.  A  feed  of  25 
ft.  per  min.  was  considered  high  and  in  fact  was  about 
the  maximum  that  could  be  used  for  smooth  worlj.  Any- 
thing faster  than  this  would  show  revolution  marks  011 
the  finished  board,  the  old  four-square  planer  head  with 
its  thick,  clumsy,  hand-ground  knives  being  almost  impos- 
sible to  balance  perfectly. 

One  could  not,  without  clairvoyant  power,  foresee  that 
the  25  ft.  per  min.  feed  would  some  day  be  multiplied 
twelve  times  and  that  lumber  would  be  shot  through  these 
machines  at  the  rate  of  300  ft.  per  min.  But  it  was  pos- 
sible to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  an  improvement  in 
planer  knives  would  mean  an  increase  in  planer  feeds. 
Here  was  an  opportunity  for  some  knife-making  shop  to 
analyze  conditions,  find  the  weak  point  and  help  to  push 
aside  .the  obstacles  holding  back  the  progress  of  the  wood 
planer. 

The  installation  choice  of  a  new  machine  is  taken 
more  seriously  in  the  small  shop  than  in  the  large  one. 
No  doubt  this  is  because  one  machine  among  many  does 
not  affect  the  whole  as  much  as  when  one  is  added  to  a 
few,  just  as  a  single  vote  in  a  small  town  is  of  much 
more  relative  importance  in  local  elections  than  one  vote 
in  a  large  city.  The  installation  of  the  wrong  machine 
in  a  big  shop  means  annoyance  and  a  small  loss ;  the 
installation  of  the  wrong  machine  in  the  small  shop  may 
put  it  out  of  business.  On  the  other  hand,  not  buying 
a  machine  that  is  needed,  while  it  will  not  result  in  a 
sudden  calamity,  is  likely  to  terminate  in  a  case  of  gradual 
dry  rot. 

The  "  Rogers  Boys,"  as  J.  R.  and  Francis  P.  Rogers, 
Jr.,  are  known  in  Worcester  and  vicinity,  believed  that 
a  suitable  surface  grinder  would  solve  a  problem  of  the 
wood-planer  knife.  Not  only  had  they  the  conception  of 
what  was  needed,  but  not  finding  a  suitable  machine 
for  this  purpose  on  the  market,  they  designed  and  had 
built  the  special  machine  illustrated  in  Fig.  2  —  an  act 
that  involved  playing  a  $10,000  stake  against  their  belief. 
That  this  was  an  investment  and  not  a  gamble  is  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that  from  this  machine  came  the  first 
high-speed  steel  wood-planer  knife  made,  and  others  have 
been  coming  from  it  ever  since. 

This  machine  is  of  interest,  not  only  as  an  example 
of  good  judgment  displayed  at  an  opportune  time,  but 
also  for  what  it  will  do.  The  grinding  wheel  is  24  in. 
in  diameter  with  an  S^-m-  face.  Running  at  5,000  ft. 
per  min.  it  is  so  free  from  vibration  that  one  cannot 
tell  whether  or  not  it  is  in  motion,  even  when  holding  to 


(7) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


his  ear  a  screwdriver  with  its  end  applied  to  the  wheel 
bearing. 

The  table  of  this  machine  is  10  ft.  long,  its  entire 
length  being  equipped  with  Walker  magnetic  chucks 
having  a  width  of  8%  in.  There  are  two  table  speeds  — 
40  and  60  ft. — •  one  for  roughing  and  the  other  for  finish- 
ing. Oh  the  class  of  work  produced  on  this  machine, 
limits  and  finish  are  held  exceptionally  close,  some  knife 
specifications  calling  for  tolerances  no  greater  than 
0.00025.  In  view  of  this  requirement  the  accomplish- 


you  consider  where  the  price  of  high-speed  steel  is  today 
and  where  it  is  quite  likely  to  go,  there  may  not  be 
much  to  be  wondered  at  after  all.  The  accumulation 
of  dirt  shown  in  the  tank  at  A  in  Fig.  1  is  in  reality  high- 
speed steel  grinding  dust  floating  on  top  of  water.  This 
material  is  carefully  saved,  packed  and  shipped  to  the 
steel  mills,  where  every  bit  of  tungsten  is  eagerly  wel- 
comed. 

One   can    get   an    idea   of   the   proportions   of   a   high- 
speed steel  wood-planer  knife  from  the   illustration  at  A 


FIG.    2.     THE   SURFACE   GRINDER   THAT  PROVED  TO  BE  THE  TURNING  POINT 


ment  of  this  machine  in  removing  %2  in.  per  hr.  from 
a  surface  of  120  in.  long  and  8l/z  in.  wide  is  rather  remark- 
able. The  table  is  reversed  by  a  pneumatic  clutch. 

The  rear  view  of  this  machine,  seen  at  B,  displays 
2J/2-in.  flexible  steel  hose  through  which  cooling  water 
is  applied  to  the  wheel.  When  the  machine  was  first 
tested  out,  this  hose  was  not  fastened  as  securely  as  is 
shown,  but  was  held  by  a  husky  negro  who  directed  it 
upon  the  back  of  the  wheel.  The  gentleman,  becoming 
absent-minded  during  the  course  of  events,  allowed  the 
nozzle  to  deviate  from  its  proper  path;  as  a  result  the 
2V2-m,  stream  projected  between  the  housings  and 
knocked  a  couple  of  interested  spectators  from  a  bench 
alongside  the  table.  What  happened  to  the  spectators 
is  known,  but  what  happened  to  the  darkey  is  not 
related. 

One  does  not  see  anything  unusual  in  the  practice  of 
saving  the  sweepings  from  the  floor  of  a  mint  in  which 
gold  coins  are  being  made,  but  it  is  rather  strange  to 
find  a  similar  practice  in  a  knife  shop.  However,  when 


in  Fig.  3.  They  are  from  %  to  %6  in.  thick,  from  1% 
to  2  in.  wide  and  from  4  to  50  in.  long.  The  heat-treat- 
ment and  straightening  of  a  high-speed  steel  blade  of 
such  proportions  require  a  high  degree  of  skill.  All 
these  blades  are  hardened  in  Kenworthy  furnaces  using 
fuel  oil  vaporized  by  steam  under  a  pressure  of  125  Ib. 
and  are  quenched  in  Houghton's  soluble  quenching 
compound.  After  quenching,  -they  are  tempered,  or  "let 
down,"  to  approximately  600  deg.  F.  Before  this,  how- 
ever, they  must  be  straightened,  a  peculiar  thing  about 
high-speed  steel  being  that  it  is  impossible  to  straighten 
it  after  this  second  heating. 

PLANING  IRON  AT  230  FT.  PER  Mm. 

The  machine-shop  man  who  has  been  unpleasantly  sur- 
prised by  the  ease  with  which  some  high-speed  drills  and 
reamers  break  under  slight  provocation  would  expect  a 
thin  high-speed  steel  knife  of  this  kind,  hardened  to  a 
scleroscope  hardness  of  85,  to  be  a  rather  delicate  and 
fragile  tool.  He  would  change  his  mind  if  he  could  see 


(8) 


FINDING  THE  TURNING  POINT  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 


the  piece  of  1%-in.  angle  iron  shown  at  B  in  Fig.  3, 
which  was  accidentally  fed  into  a  double  surfacer  and 
planed  both  top  and  bottom  for  18  in.  of  its  length  at 
a  speed  of  230  ft.  per  rain.,  some  %  in.  in  depth  being 
removed  from  one  of  the  ribs  and  a  full  %z  in.  from 
the  entire  surface  of  the  other  rib.  The  high-speed 
steel  knives  which  did  this  fast  iron  planing  were  some- 
what dulled,  to  be  sure,  but  a  grinding  put  them  in  condi- 
tion for  further  cutting  —  of  lumber. 

Before  the  installation  of  this  "  turning-point  machine  " 
the  Hankey  company  was  doing  what  a  number  of  other 
firms  were  also  doing  and  in  about  the  same  way.  The 
use  of  this  machine  upon  high-speed  steel  knives,  how- 
ever, necessitated  careful  study  of  the  heat-treatment  of 
this  material  and  led  to  a  specialization  in  accurately 
ground  high-speed  steel  knives  and  tools,  which  has  been 


Weighing  Patterns  and  Castings  by 
Their  Displacement  of  Water 

BY  W.  H.  SARGENT 

The  writer  was  puzzled  to  know  how  to  find  the  size 
of  a  pattern  for  a  scale  weight  the  casting  from  which 
was  to  weigh  a  certain  definite  amount.  The  pattern 
was  of  such  irregular  shape  that  its  volume  could  not 
be  accurately  computed,  and  it  was  not  possible  to  take 
off  a  trial  casting.  In  my  trouble  I  remembered  Archi- 
medes and  his  stunt  with  the  king's  crown,  and  I 
thought  if  I  could  find  the  weight  of  a  quantity  of  water 
equal  in  volume  to  the  pattern,  then  the  casting  would 
be  to  the  pattern  what  the  weight  of  iron  is  to  the 
weight  of  water.  I  punched  a  hole  through  the  side  of 


FIG.    3.      HIGH-SPEED  STEEL,  WOOD  PLANER  K  NIVES  AND  WHAT  THEY  DID  TO  ANGLE  IRON 


a  tin  can  near  the  top,  filled  it  with  water  to  that  point 
and  immersed  the  pattern.  I  caught  and  weighed  the 
water  that  ran  out,  which  was,  of  course,  equal  in  vol- 
ume to  the  pattern.  Multiplying  the  weight  of  my 
"  water  casting  "  by  the  specific  gravity  of  cast  iron  gave 
me  the  corresponding  weight  of  an  iron  casting. 


FIG.    4.     COMPOSITE-STEEL  WOODWORKING  KNIVES 

a  profitable  line  of  business.  But  the  turning  point  was 
the  installation  of  the  grinder. 

High-carbon  and  composite-steel  tools  and  knives  are 
also  heat-treated  and  ground  at  this  plant.  Two  of  these 
are  shown  in  Fig.  4,  the  one  at  A  being  a  wood-planer 
knife  for  a  square-cutter  head  and  the  one  at  B 
being  a  miter  knife.  They  have  soft  steel  backing  on 
tool-steel  edges.  The  furnace  weld  is  rolled,  and  the 
grinding  of  a  piece  of  this  kind,  one  part  of  which  is 
soft  and  one  part  hard,  without  leaving  a  mark  at  the 
junction  of  the  two  pieces  may  be  considered  a  noteworthy 
job.  In  fact,  the  face  of  these  blades  must  be  ground  to 
a  radius,  that  is,  held  to  very  close  limits.  One  and  one- 
half  thousandths  is  allowed  for  location  of  this  radius 
centrally  with  the  blade,  and  0.001  in.  is  allowed  on  the 
length  of  the  radius. 

It  is  not  often  that  a  small  shop  is  able  to  change  the 
grade  of  its  product  as  markedly  as  this,  owing  to  the 
installation  of  a  new  machine.  Every  small  shop,  however, 
can  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  each  machine  installed 
should  be  a  turning  point  toward  better  work  and  more 
profits. 

This  thought,  coming  at  the  time  when  new  equipment 
is  to  be  purchased,  will  influence  the  buyer  to  select  the 
machine  best  suited  to  his  needs  regardless  of  what  its 
cost  might  be. 


WEIGHING  BY  PROXY 

Another  practical  application  of  this  principle  is  find- 
ing the  weight  of  a  casting  when  no  scale  is  at  hand 
large  enough  to  weigh  the  casting  itself.  Fill  a  pail  or 
tub  exactly  full  of  water.  Immerse  the  casting;  catch 
and  weigh  the  water  that  overflows;  multiply  the  amount 
by  the  specific  gravity  of  the  material  and  you  have  the 
'  weight  of  the  casting.  Thus  a  casting  of  nearly  200  Ib.  can 
be  weighed  "  by  proxy  "  on  a  25-lb.  scale  with  a  consider- 
able degree  of  accuracy. 


(9) 


Spring  Fever  in  the  Small  Shop 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  This  is  a"  Dave  Hope  "  story,  telling 
how  the  inmates  of  his  small  machine  shop  were 
afflicted  with  spring  -fever  and  how  they  were  cured 
l)y  inoculation. 

There  is  a  disease  not  mentioned  in  the  medical  books. 
It  spreads  its  influence  broadcast  over  the  country  each 
year  and  spares  not  rich  nor  poor,  young  nor  old.  It 
affects  most  strongly  those  whose  occupations  keep  them 
within  doors  and  is  a  disease  that  every  machinist's  appren- 
tice and  even  the  machinist  himself  suffers  from  each 
year.  The  germs  of  this  disease  are  frozen  up  and  harm- 
less during  the  winter  season;  their  busy  time  is  the  month 
of  May: 

When  the  buds  beg-in  to  blossom 

And  the  bees  begin  to  hum  ; 
When  you  feel  like  playing  'possum 

And  your  job  seems  on  the  bum. 

It  is  at  this  season  of  the  year  that  the  machinist  in 
the  large  or  the  small  shop  picks  out  a  soap  box  or  nail 
keg  as  a  resting  place  from  which  he  can  with  the  least 
effort  observe  the  slow  progress  of  the  thirty-second-inch 
feed  crawling  over  the  surface  of  the  work.  But  while 
his  eyes  are  on  the  machine,  his  thoughts  are  elsewhere. 
In  imagination  he  is  feeling  the  warmth  of  the  sun  upon 
the  back  of  a  neck  that  has  been  protected  from  sleet  and 
storms  for  many  months  by  an  upturned  coat  collar.  He 
is  imagining  the  satisfaction  of  indulging  his  five  senses, 
individually  and  collectively,  with  the  sights,  sounds, 
smells,  tastes  and  feelings  of  a  rejuvenated  earth.  And 
just  about  the  time  when  his  imagination  takes  him  to 
the  crystal-clear  inland  lake  crammed  with  fish  as  hungry 
as  starving  wolves  —  bang!  The  whole  thing  is  punctured 
by  the  sarcastic  voice  of  the  boss :  "  Get  rid  of  that  hook- 
worm and  double  up  on  your  feed ! " 

SYMPTOMS  OF  SPRING  FEVER  IN  DAVE'S  SHOP 

There  were  obvious  signs  that  this  spring  malady  had 
attacked  Dave  Hope's  small  shop.  One  convincing  symp- 
tom was  evident  in  Sandy  McPherson's  location  out  of 
doors,  for  he  had  moved  the  portable  work  bench  from 
within  and  was  doing  his  filing  under  the  sky  instead 
of  under  the  shop  roof.  Eeddy  Burke,  whose  duties  con- 
fined him  to  a  close  proximity  to  machines  not  so  easily 
portable,  looked  rather  disconsolate.  As  for  the  boy  and 
the  half-dozen  other  men  who  comprised  the  personnel 
of  the  shop,  the  evidence  of  the  disease  was  unmistakably 
written  upon  them  and  displayed  in  every  motion. 

Dave  Hope  had  not  overlooked  these  indications  and, 
in  fact,  felt  some  of  the  symptoms  working  in  his  own 
system.  "  This  thing  is  going  to  cost  us  some  money," 
he  reflected,  "because  the  trouble  is  sure  to  last  for  two 
weeks  at  least.  During  this  time  one  after  another  of 
the  boys  will  be  taking  a  day  off  now  and  then,  and  it 
isn't  in  my  disposition  to  tell  them  no,  for  I'll  probably 
be  doing  the  same  thing  myself."  Just  at  this  moment 
his  eyes  rested  upon  the  magazine  section  of  the  preceding 
week's  Sunday  paper,  which  happened  to  lie  open  at  an 
article  entitled  "  How  Disease  Is  Made  Harmless  by  Inocu- 
lation." "  By  George !  "  exclaimed  Dave  to  himself ;  "  I 


wonder  if  there  isn't  a  way  to  inoculate  against  spring 
fever." 

He  read  the  article  with  considerable  interest  and  found 
that  the  principle  of  inoculation  is  to  treat  the  system 
with  a  dose  of  the  disease  bacillus  that  causes  the  com- 
plaint. "  Looks  like  a  case  of  fighting  fire  with  fire," 
muttered  Dave,  lapsing  into  a  period  of  silent  reflection 
that  lasted  several  moments.  Then  he  got  up,  slapped 
the  desk  with  his  fist  and  ejaculated,  "  By  George,  I'll 
do  it!" 

DAVE  GETS  READY  TO  TRY  THE  INOCULATION 

Next  morning  Dave  did  something  that  it  was  very 
unusual  for  him  to  do;  he  lined  his  men  up  and  made 
a  speech  to  them.  Perhaps  it  should  be  called  a  talk  rather 
than  a  speech,  for  there  was  nothing  formal  about  it  any 
more  than  about  Dave  himself. 

"  Boys,  we're  all  coming  down  with  a  bad  case  of  spring 
fever.  I've  got  it  myself,  and  I  know  that  you  have.  And 
I  don't  blame  you  for  it.  But  there  are  some  orders 
here  that  we've  got  to  get  out  —  that  12x12  engine  for 
Jones'  sawmill,  the  road  roller  for  the  town  and  that 
duplex  pump  for  Tim  Ebbets.  Now  I'll  tell  you  what 
we'll  do  —  you  boys  pitch  in  and  clean  these  up  by  Friday 
night,  and  we'll  shut  down  until  Monday  morning,  with 
the  condition  that  all  of  us  together  go  out  for  a  two 
days'  camp  in  the  woods." 

The  speech  of  an  eloquent  statesman  was  never  received 
with  any  more  enthusiasm  than  were  these  few  words  of 
Dave's.  All  hands  pitched  in  with  a  vigor  that  gave  evi- 
dence of  the  success  of  the  first  inoculation. 

STARTING  OFF  FOR  THE  CAMPING  GROUNDS 

On  Saturday  morning  at  sunrise  the  wheels  of  the 
one-horse  farm  wagon  creaked  under  the  load  of  eight 
men  and  a  boy  and  sundry  equipment  in  the  nature  of 
provisions  and  camp  material.  Fishpoles  were  a  prom- 
inent feature  included  in  this  assortment  of  goods,  for 
every  small-shop  man  is  instinctively  a  fisherman  by  sec- 
ond nature.  Dave  had  suggested  that  the  party  go  on 
foot,  thinking  that  the  spring-fever  inoculation  would  take 
place  more  rapidly  under  such  circumstances,  but  com- 
promised on  a  farm  wagon  without  springs. 

It  was  very  pleasant  jogging  along  the  fresh-smelling 
country  road,  and  the  occasional  bumps  encountered  by 
the  springless  farm  wagon  as  it  rolled  over  furrows  left 
by  recent  freshets  did  not  cause  any  lessening  of  the 
enjoyment,  unless  it  was  on  the  part  of  the  boy,  who 
was  jolted  off  the  back  of  the  wagon  by  an  unusually 
severe  bump.  As  the  sun  grew  hotter  and  the  road  grew 
hillier,  it  was  necessary  for  the  party  to  get  out  of  the 
wagon  and  "  spell "  the  horse,  who  seemed  to  be  suffering 
from  spring  fever  himself.  Coats  came  off  one  by  one, 
and  beads  of  perspiration  began  to  bathe  newly  acquired 
sunburn.  Dave  had  chosen  the  road  and  had  taken  care 
to  pick  one  with  very  little  shade. 

"  Gee,"  said  Tom,  the  boy,  "  I  didn't  think  it  could  be 
as  hot  as  this  in  May!  " 

"Hot,  is  it?"  exclaimed  Reddy  Burke.  "  T'ink  of  the 
poor  byes  in  Mexico  —  this  is  a  rayfrigorator  be  com- 
parison." 

The  destination   of   the   campers  was   an   inland   stream 


(10) 


SPKING  FEVER  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 


girded  by  woods.  It  was  a  location  seldom  visited  by 
fisherman,  being  18  miles  from  town  and  10  miles  from 
the  nearest  railroad,  and  for  this  reason  might  be  expected 
to  furnish  exciting  sport  and  appetizing  meals.  The  coun- 
try in  this  neighborhood  was  sparsely  settled,  but  a  farm- 
house was  encountered  some  six  miles  distant  from  the 
creek,  and  Dave  stopped  the  wagon  to  buy  some  fresh  milk 
and  to  have  a  word  in  private  with  the  farmer. 

A  RAID  ON  THE  COMMISSARY  DEPARTMENT 

The  two  days'  supply  of  eatables  in  the  commissary 
department  had  begun  to  melt  under  the  attack  of  nine 
hungry  appetites.  "  If  you  lads  dinna  refrain  f rae  eatin' 
the  noo,  we  will  have  nowt  for  breakfast  the  morn's  morn- 
in',''  cautioned  Sandy. 

"  We'll  have  fresh  fish  for  breakfast  anyway,"  replied 
Bill  Evans ;  "  there's  a  dozen  breakfasts  and  dinners  too, 
swimmin'  in  that  there  creek." 

Upon  arrival  at  the  destination  the  horse  was  unhitched 
from  the  wagon  and  tethered  in  a  shady  patch  of  woods. 
Fishpoles  were  hurriedly  sorted  out  from  among  other 
contraptions,  Reddy  Burke  finding  difficulty  in  unearth- 
ing his  from  beneath  the  big  fly  tent  that  had  been  brought 
along  for  sleeping  quarters. 

There  was  a  rush  for  strategic  positions  on  the  bank 
of  the  creek.  Sandy  McPherson  was  the  first  to  get  into 
action,  baiting  his  hook  with  a  "  night  walker "  the  size 
of  which  insured  an  ambitious  catch  if  any  at  all.  Two 
minutes  later,  while  Sandy  was  lighting  his  pipe,  a  fero- 
cious and  unexpected  pull  yanked  the  pole  from  his  left 
hand.  It  was  a  steel  pole,  and  not  having  the  buoyance 
of  the  more  common  wooden  kind,  it  disappeared  beneath 
the  surface,  followed  by  a  shower  of  Scotch  impreca- 
tions. 

"  Hoot,  a  beastie  wi'  sic  a  pu'  can  be  nae  less  than  a 
hippopotamus,"  exclaimed  Sandy,  after  he  had  cooled  down 
a  bit. 

This  experience  heightened  the  anticipation  of  the  rest 
of  the  party,  proving  as  it  did  that  there  was  big  game 
in  the  creek.  And  in  confirmation  of  this,  Reddy  Burke's 
pole  began  to  bend  vigorously.  "  Begorry,  I  hov  the  baste," 
exclaimed  Reddy,  "  and  it's  mesilf  that  will  bring  the  cray- 
tur  safely  to  terry  firmmy." 

REDDY  BURKE  CATCHES  A  BIG  ONE 

Then  ensued  a  momentous  struggle  between  an  excited 
Irishman  at  one  end  of  a  fishpole  and  a  fish  of  unknown 
species  at  the  other.  The  battle  waged  with  varying  suc- 
cess for  a  half-hour,  the  rest  of  the  boys  dropping  their 
poles  and  offering  varied  suggestions  as  to  the  best  way 
of  landing  the  catch.  Finally,  human  skill  aided  by  the 
elasticity  of  a  fishpole  conquered.  "  Get  ready  to  hov  a 
look  at  the  biggest  fish  in  the  counthry,"  exclaimed  Reddy, 
shortening  up  on  his  line.  But  it  wasn't  a  fish — -it  was 
a  gigantic  snapping  turtle. 

That  place  seemed  to  be  the  headquarters  of  the  snap- 
ping-turtle  trust.  One  after  another  received  promising 
bites,  only  to  find  them  given  by  these  hard-shell  creatures 
who  monopolized  the  stream.  So  many  hooks  were  lost  in 
this  pastime  that  the  fishermen  discontinued  their  fishing 
and  sought  the  shade  of  near-by  trees. 

The  noon  repast  finished  up  most  of  the  provisions. 
It  was  followed  by  a  nap  for  all  of  the  party  but  Dave, 
who  seemed  to  have  business  back  in  the  woods.  So 
soothing  was  the  outdoor  air  of  spring  that,  when  the 


amateur  campers  awoke,  it  was  after  6  o'clock  and  they 
were  as  hungry  as  wolves.  By  unanimous  consent  they 
started  for  the  wagon.  But  when  they  reached  the  clear- 
ing where  it  had  been  left,  there  was  no  sign  of  either  horse 
or  wagon! 

MYSTERIOUS  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  BOARD  AND  LODGING 

"  Sure,  'tis  a  likely  place  for  the  fairies,"  exclaimed 
Reddy ;  "  but  if  they  bewitched  the  baste  and  the  wagon, 
they've  left  tracks  behint  thim  to  indicate  it."  Here 
he  pointed  to  unmistakable  wheel  and  hoof  prints.  "  Some 
dhirty  rascal  has  cabbaged  the  commissary  department!  " 

They  succeeded  in  following  the  tracks  as  far  as  the 
crossroad,  but  here  the  wind  had  obscured  the  marks 
and  the  men  were  not  enough  skilled  in  wood  craft  to 
detect  which  branch  had  been  taken.  Besides,  it  was  grow- 
ing dark,  they  were  without  shelter,  and  the  evening  breeze 
began  to  feel  chilly. 

"  The  best  thing  for  us  to  do,"  advised  Dave,  "  is  to 
find  some  barn  where  we  can  sleep.  The  nearest  farm- 
house is  six  miles  away,  and  I  suggest  that  we  follow 
the  creek  road,  where  we  may  find  something  nearer." 

A  six-mile  walk  without  supper  did  not  attract  the 
rest  of  the  boys,  and  it  was  agreed  to  try  the  creek  road. 
It  was  quite  dark  by  this  time,  and  everyone  had  parted 
with  his  last  bit  of  good  nature.  Tom,  the  boy,  appar- 
ently could  see  in  the  dark  better  than  any  of  the  others. 
"  There  is  a  building  over  there,  I  think,"  he  exclaimed, 
after  the  party  had  trudged  a  half-mile  by  starlight.  "  If 
you  fellows  will  wait  here  a  minute,  I'll  go  over  and  see 
what  it  is." 

He  came  running  back  in  a  few  moments.  "  It  looks 
like  a  good  place  to  sleep,"  said  he;  "it's  a  shed  with  a 
lot  of  sawdust  on  the  floor." 

REDDY  BURKE  HAS  A  NIGHTMARE 

Reddy  Burke  woke  up  two  hours  later  from  a  night- 
mare in  which  he,  a  morgue  and  a  slab  of  ice  played  the 
principal  parts.  He  found  that  he  had  sunk  downward 
quite  a  bit  in  his  bed  of  sawdust,  and  he  was  surrounded 
with  icy  cold  water.  "Wake  up,  lads,"  he  bellowed  at 
the  top  of  his  voice,  "  the  creek  is  rising  and  youse  will 
all  be  drownded !  "  Someone  struck  a  match,  and  by  its 
flicker  they  could  see  that  they  had  gone  to  sleep  in  an  ice- 
house ! 

Two  hours  later  the  moon  looked  down  on  a  discon- 
solate party  trudging  back  toward  town.  It  was  almost 
dawn  when  they  came  to  the  farmhouse  where  the  milk 
had  been  obtained.  "  Guess  I'll  run  in  here  and  see  if  the 
farmer  has  seen  anything  of  our  horse  and  wagon,"  said 
Dave. 

He  did  not  have  much  trouble  in  arousing  this  gentle- 
man, who  led  him  back  to  the  barn  and  the  missing  con- 
veyance. "  Wall,  I  reckon  you're  satisfied  that  I  followed 
directions  all  right  enough,  aint  ye?"  said  the  farmer, 
with  a  sly  wink  as  he  pocketed  Dave's  two-dollar  bill. 

The  horse  ambled  along  with  his  load  of  homeward  bound 
pilgrims,  quite  unconscious  of  the  verbal  abuse  that  was 
heaped  upon  him  by  men  who  were  too  tired  to  sleep  and 
too  angry  to  converse. 

Sunday  was  spent  at  home  in  bed  by  the  members  of 
the  camping  party;  and  when  they  returned  to  work  on 
Monday  morning,  the  spring-fever  inoculation  was  com- 
plete. Even  Sandy  McPherson  moved  his  work  bench  back 
into  the  shop. 


(11) 


Making  Patterns  and  Castings  for  the  Small 

Shop 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS- —  What  to  avoid  is  even  more  important 
to  know  than  what  to  do.  This  article  throws 
cold  water  on  the  ambition  of  the  small-shop 
owner  who  is  thinking  of  operating  his  own  foun- 
dry. Patterns  also  come  in  for  their  share  of 
rapping. 

A  foundry  is  a  handy  thing  to  have  in  connection  with 
a  big  shop  —  you  can  blame  most  mistakes  upon  it.  This 
abode  of  the  sand  rammer  has  always  been  a  convenient 
"  goat,"  and  many  a  shop  foreman  would  lose  his  job  if 
deprived  of  its  unconscious  support  when  it  comes  to 
excuses  for  spoiled  work. 

When  the  time  clerk  trots  down  the  line  with  a  job 
that  took  an  hour  and  a  half  longer  than  it  should,  what 
is  more  easy  and  soothing  than  to  tell  him  that  the  cast- 


unless  good,  while  those  that  are  made  must  be  paid  for 
whether  good  or  bad. 

One  of  the  supposed  advantages  of  having  your  own 
foundry  is  in  being  able  to  get  castings  on  time,  but  those 
who  have  foundries  have  come  to  believe  that  this  advan- 
tage is  not  inseparably  affixed  to  them.  If  the  small- 
shop  man  is  really  looking  for  trouble,  let  him  add  the 
duty  of  a  foundry  superintendent  and  metal  mixer  to  his 
already  numerous  and  diversified  duties  and  learn  the 
39  reasons  why  a  casting  can  come  out  bad,  starting  with 
too  high  a  barometric  pressure  and  ending  with  too  hard 
sand  ramming,  and  he  will  feel  as  if  he  had  his  hands 
full. 

There  are  of  course  exceptions  to  this  even  in  the  small 
shop.  Some  isolated  cases  exist  where  a  foundry  that  can 
take  no  more  than  one  heat  a  week  will  make  a  profit. 
But  this  is  due  to  unusual  conditions,  such  as  the  absence 
of  competition;  and  since  the  majority  of  our  small  shops 
are  in  fairly  close  touch  with  competition,  it  does  not  apply 
in  general. 

There  are  some  small-shop  owners  who  think  to  add 
to  their  volume  of  business  by  adding  to  the  number  of 


U 10'- *l 

Casting  Pattern    f    -^    Casting 

W 

FIG.  1.  TOM  COOPER'S  EXPERIENCE  WITH  ROLLS 

ing  was  hard  and  sandy  and  that  you  think  some  cuss 
over  in  the  foundry  must  have  slipped  a  couple  of  files 
into  the  cupola?  When  the  old  man  sits  on  your  neck 
because  a  machine  is  three  days  overdue,  what  will  change 
a  disorderly  rout  into  a  glorious  retreat  more  quickly  than 
to  tell  him  that  the  frame  pattern  was  rapped  so  large 
that  it  required  three  cuts  to  get  it  down  to  finishing  size? 
When  a  pulley  or  gear  arm  has  cracks  in  it,  how  is  it 
possible  for  these  to  have  occurred  in  the  casting  any- 
where but  in  the  foundry  where  it  was  made?  In  one 
large  shop  with  which  I  am  familiar  there  is  a  saying  as 
follows :  "  A  slight  error  in  the  designing  department,  a 

mistake  in  the  machine  shop,  ad big  blunder  in  the 

foundry." 

While  a  foundry  is  so  convenient  in  this  respect,  aside 
from  its  capacity  to  deliver  castings,  it  is  usually  an 
expensive  luxury  when  attached  to  a  small  shop.  When 
castings  can  be  bought  on  contract  as  cheaply  as  is  possible 
nowadays,  it  is  foolish  to  assume  a  new  burden  of  respon- 
sibility with  the  prospect  of  such  a  slight  saving  as  that 
between  the  cost  to  make  and  the  cost  to  buy,  especially 
where  the  castings  that  are  bought  need  not  be  paid  for 


fig 


A  B  C 

FIG.    2.     TROUBLE   WITH    NOT    ENOUGH   AND    TOO 
MUCH  FILLET 

departments  in  their  plant.  Not  satisfied  with  an  ordinary 
machine  shop,  they  must  have  a  foundry,  blacksmith 
shop,  pattern  'shop,  nickel-plating  department  and  what 
not.  One  shop  owner  of  my  acquaintance  was  doing  a  total 
volume  of  business  of  less  than  $12,000  a  year  and  yet 
kept  adding  one  department  after  another.  Most  people 
find  it  hard  to  support  simply  a  machine  shop  on  this 
amount  of  annual  business,  let  alone  extending  it  over  a 
blacksmith  shop,  foundry  and  pattern  shop.  In  addition 
to  spreading  the  money  very  thin,  the  capacity  of  an 
ordinary  human  being  must  be  stretched  to  the  breaking 
point  when  he  has  to  look  after  such  a  great  variety  of 
things.  You  will  find  the  most  successful  shops  are  those 
that  find  out  what  they  can  do  to  best  advantage  and  then 
cut  out  everything  else  as  much  as  possible. 

The  same  reasoning  applies  to  making  patterns.  It  is 
hard  to  get  some  men  to  realize  that  this  is  a  special 
trade  in  itself.  Unless  a  man  is  in  daily  touch  with 
foundry  conditions,  knows  foundry  problems  and  has  had 
years  of  experience  with  them  as  well  as  with  his  own 
trade,  he  is  not  fitted  to  make  a  real  pattern.  What  I 
mean  by  a  real  pattern  is  one  for  a  piece  of  work  that 
counts  for  something,  not  the  ordinary  odds  and  ends  of 
junk  required  about  the  shop  from  time  to  time,  which 
may  be  made  from  whatever  is  at  hand. 


(12) 


MAKING  PATTERNS  AND  CASTINGS  FOR  THE  SMALL  SHOP 


Old  Bill  Higgins,  of  Vermont,  knew  these  facts  as  well 
as  anyone  and  yet  insisted  on  making  his  own  patterns. 
But  then  he  was  a  man  who  ran  in  unusually  good  luck. 
He  said  that  to  get  a  good  casting  you  must  have  a  good 
pattern ;  to  get  a  good  pattern  you  must  have  a  good  design ; 
to  get  a  good  design  you  must  have  a  good  designer;  and 
to  get  such  a  man  you  must  have  a  lot  of  luck,  so  the 
whole  casting  business  resolves  itself  into  a  matter  of 
luck  anyway,  whichever  way  you  look  at  it.  Whereupon 
he  would  proceed  to  make  a  pattern  that  violated  all  the 
laws  of  nature.  He  would  put  the  draft  upside  down  and 
the  cores  inside  out,  mold  it  in  too  small  a  flask  in  the 
wrong  kind  of  sand,  ram  it  too  hard  and  pour  it  too 
cold  —  and  get  a  good  casting ! 

Sometimes  the  carpenter  finds  that  it  falls  to  his  part 
to  make  the  small-shop  patterns.  They  tell  of  one  such 
wood  butcher,  newly  hired  by  a  small-shop  owner,  who, 
when  told  to  put  a  little  more  draft  on  the  pattern  he 
was  making,  opened  the  window  in  front  of  the  bench  a 
bit  wider! 

Tom  Cooper  thought  he  knew  enough  to  make  a  pattern 
for  a  plain  cylindrical  roll.  He  botched  together  a  pat- 
tern such  as  shown  at  A,  Fig.  1,  allowing  M.e-in.  diameter 


FIG.    3.     CAME    OUT    DIFFERENT    EVERY    TIME    IT 
WAS  MADE 

for  shrinkage.  He  sent  this  over  to  the  nearest  foundry 
with  instruction  to  cast  it  on  end,-  so  to  get  the  surface 
clean  all  around.  He  was  quite  surprised  on  receiving 
the  casting  to  find  that  one  end  of  it  was  larger  than  the 
pattern.  He  jumped  on  the  foundryman  for  rapping  the 
pattern  on  this  job  with  a  sledge  hammer,  but  got  a  quick 
come-back  combined  with,  the  information  that  he  should 
have  made  allowance  for  the  pressure  due  to  the  head  of 
liquid  iron,  which  had  expanded  the  mold  at  the  bottom. 
After  some  experimenting,, he  found  the  way  to  get  a 
straight  casting  by  making  the  pattern  tapered,  as  shown 
at  B.  But  he  used  up  several  hundred  feet  of  good  pat- 
tern lumber  and  a  lot  of  time  finding  this  out. 

A  JOB  THAT  BOTHERED  TOM  COOPER 

Another  little  job  that  bothered  him  some  was  a  pattern 
of  which  there  were  several  -(-  sections.  Tom  first  made 
these  as  illustrated  at  A  in  Fig.  2  and  got  his  pattern 
back  in  short  order  with  a  request  to  put  fillets  in  the 
corners.  He  did  so  in  the  way  seen  at  B  and  was  shocked 
to  find  that  too  much  fillet  is  as  bad  as  too  little,  for  the 
central  portion  was  so  heavy  in  comparison  with  the  ribs 
that  the  unequal  cooling  set  up  heavy  strains  that  resulted 
in  cracks.  Finally,  the  foundry  owner  took  pity,  on  him 
and  told  him  to  make  it  as  shown  at  C,  so  that  there 
would  be  a  gradual  change  in  the  width  of  sections  from 


one  part  to  another.  But  while  fussing  around  with  these 
things,  he  overlooked  a  bad  error  in  a  machine  for  his 
best  customer,  and  it  was  shipped  without  remedying  the 
defect. 

Not  yet  having  his  fingers  badly  enough  burned,  Tom 
tackled  a  pattern  which  had  a  channel  cross-section,  like 
that  at  A  in  Fig.  3.  This  pattern  was  straight,  to  be  sure, 
but  the  casting  came  to  him  as  hollow  as  an  empty  stom- 
ach, looking  quite  like  the  illustration  at  B.  He  called  up 
the  foundry  on  the  phone,  but  dropped  the  receiver  in 
a  hurry  when  the  foundry  boss  told  him  that  he  did  not 
pay  his  men  to  furnish  brains  for  amateur  pattern  makers. 
He  sent  the  pattern  to  another  foundry  and  got  back  a 
casting  bent  in  the  opposite  direction,  like  the  one  shown 
at  C.  Then  he  changed  the  pattern  a  bit,  thinning  the 
metal  at  the  center  and  thickening  it  at  the  ends.  The 
casting  which  resulted,  shown  at  D,  reminded  him  of  a 
dog  stretching  after  a  nap.  In  desperation  he  gave  the 
job  to  a  pattern  maker,  who  solved  the  problem  by  thick- 
ening the  ribs  as  at  E. 

A  mistaken  belief  is  a  hard  thing  to  kill,  and  Tom's 


A  B 

FIG.    4.     CURING    ONE    DISEASE    BROUGHT    ON    ANOTHER 
JUST  AS  BAD 

belief  in  his  pattern-making  ability  was  not  yet  dead, 
even  after  such  a  severe  shaking  up,  so  he  tackled  a  pulley. 

A  cast-iron  pulley  is  one  of  the  most  innocent  appear- 
ing objects,  but  beneath  its  honest  sandy  skin  it  contains 
a  heart  more  full  of  stresses  and  strains  to  the  square 
inch  than  anything  else  one  can  imagine.  First, .  Tom 
made  the  rim  light,  as  in  Fig.  4  at  A,  so  that  it  would  not. 
require  a  heavy  cut  for  finishing.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it 
did  not  require  any,  meeting  its  finish  while  cooling  in 
the  sand.  Then  he  made  the  rim  heayy,  so  that  this 
would  not  happen  again,  but  unfortunately,  with  the 
results  shown  at  B,  the  arms  breaking  this  time  instead 
of  the  rim.  He  lightened  the  rim  a  bit  and  made  the  arms 
a  little  heavier,  but  found  that,  although  the  casting 
looked  good,  the  arms  would  snap  under  the  slightest 
provocation,  the  hub  thickness  being  much  too  great  for 
equal  cooling.  Finally,  it  dawned  upon  Tom  that  he  did 
not  know  much  about  pattern  making  and  that  it  would 
be  cheaper  for  him  to  have  the  few  patterns  he  required 
made  by  someone  who  knew  how.  ~. 

Not  only  with  reference  to  making  patterns  and  cast- 
ings, but  with  almost  everything  else  the  following  should 
be  remembered :  A  man  can  know  nearly  all  there  is  to 
know  about  one  thing,  he  can  know  a  great  deal  about  a 
few  things,  or  he  can  know  a  little  about  a  great  many 
things.  Take  your  choice,  but  remember  that  success  will 
come  only  with  the  proper  choosing. 


(13) 


The  Small-Shop  Grinding  Wheel 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVEXTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  Although  often  wrongly  selected, 
incorrectly  mounted,  improperly  speeded  and  unfav- 
orably used,  the  small-shop  grinding  wheel  plays 
no  inconsiderable  part  in  getting  out  the  work. 
This  article  is  intended  as  a  help  to  the  better 
understanding  and  use  of  this  crude  but  effective 
shop  appliance. 

Some  day  perhaps  the  creator  of  "  Happy  Hooligan " 
will  lead  him  into  a  small  machine  shop  and  then  show 
us  in  pictures  what  happens  to  him.  The  old  fellow  must 
he  getting  tired  of  the  regular  routine  of  mishaps  and 
would  appreciate  something  different,  such  as  getting 
bumped  with  a  planer  table  or  being  scalped  by  a  driving 
belt.  But  for  all-around  entertainment  let  him  be  intro- 


FIGS.    1    AND    2.     TWO   WAYS    OP   SIDETRACKING    THE 
VIBRATION  QUESTION 


one  exciting.  And  mind  you,  I  am  speaking  of  the  simple 
apparatus  found  in  all  shops,  which  consists  mainly  of 
wheels  and  belts  —  not  the  "  grinding  machine "  that  is 
nine-tenths  machine  and  only  one-tenth  wheel.  On  these 
simple  appliances  tools  are  ground,  keys  are  fitted,  cast- 
ings are  snagged,  hurry-up  jobs  are  surfaced,  that  which 
is  too  long  is  shortened,  that  which  is  too  wide  is  made 
narrow,  and  that  which  is  rough  is  made  smooth.  Yet 
in  spite  of  its  broad  application,  you  find  in  many  shops 
that  grinding  wheels  are  more  abused  than  used. 

The  error  that  I  will  attack  first,  because  it  is  the  most 
common  one,  is  the  lack  of  running  balance. 

"  What's  that,  an  earthquake  ? "  you  ask  as  you  feel  the 
floor  beginning  to  shake  and  tremble. 

"  Oh,  no,"  is  the  reply.  "  it's  just  Tom  starting  up  the 
grinding  wheel." 

One  can  hardly  stand  within  ten  feet  of  a  grinding 
wheel  in  the  average  shop  without  feeling  the  vibrations 
running  up  and  down  his  backbone.  That  this  is  an 
entirely  unnecessary  condition  is  seen  when  you  consider 
that  plain  grinding  machines  with  wheels  running  at  the 
limit  surface  speed  are  practically  free  from  vibration. 
They  have  to  be,  in  fact,  to  produce  accurate  work.  The 
result  is  not  obtained  by  sleight  of  hand,  but  is  due  to 
three  simple  factors  —  a  substantial  base,  true  spindle  and 
bearings,  and  well-balanced  running  parts. 

The  first  essential  of  a  smooth,  quiet  running  wheel  is 
a  heavy  frame.  It  is  easier  for  a  dog  to  shake  a  little  tail 
than  a  big  one.  Some  shop  owners  sidetrack  the  vibration 
question,  in  a  manner  shown  in  Fig.  1,  by  attempting  to 
mount  the  grinding  wheel  on  a  springy  frame,  with  the 


FIG.   3.     FOUR  METHODS  OF  MOUNTING  GRINDING  WHEELS 


FIG.   4.      SAFETY  COLLAR  MOUNTING 


duced  to  a  grinding  wheel.  Picture  to  yourself  the 
expression  of  his  face  after  feeling  of  the  wheel  with  his 
fingers  or  upon  taking  hold  of  the  "  heavy "  end  of  the 
piece  of  work !  Imagine  him  trying  to  light  his  "  snipe  " 
at  a  stream  of  sparks.  Picture  him  reclining  gracefully 
against  a  swiftly  moving  snagging  wheel  and  then  mak- 
ing a  hasty  exit  with  a  newspaper  held  to  conceal  the 
damages ! 

The   small-shop   owner   finds   as   many  ways   to   make   a 
grinding  wheel  helpful  as  a  Hooligan  would  find  to  make 


idea  that  it  will  absorb  vibration.  Considering  the 
amount  of  work  that  is  expected  from  a  grinding  wheel, 
it  should  not  be  begrudged  a  sufficiently  heavy  base. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  shop  owners  with  the  idea 
that  a  grinding  head  may  be  shaken  together  out  of  the 
crudest  kind  of  material.  Bearings  and  spindles  that  are 
shaken  together  in  this  manner  will  continue  to  shake 
together  as  long  as  they  last.  The  speed  at  which  a  grind- 
ing wheel  must  run  requires  not  only  a  smooth,  round, 
true  and  well-balanced  spindle,  but  also  bearings  of  the 


(14) 


THE  SMALL-SHOP  GRINDING  WHEEL 


most    improved     design,    well    lubricated    and    dustproof, 
and  the  spindle  pulley  must  be  carefully  balanced. 

"  Shall  I  use  a  plain  bearing  or  a  ball-bearing  grinder 
head  ? "  This  depends  absolutely  upon  whether  you  will 
keep  the  wheel  running  true  and  in  balance,  or  allow  it 
to  vibrate.  Ball  bearings  on  apparatus  of  this  kind  will 
save  power,  especially  on  wheels  that  are  run  idle  a  large 
part  of  the  time.  But  there  is  no  make  of  ball  bearing 
that  can  possibly  live  under  the  hammering  punishment 
of  an  unbalanced  emery  wheel. 

Grinding  wheels  when  received  from  their  manufac- 
turers are  likely  to  be  in  good  running  balance ;  but  as 
the  density  of  the  material  in  these  wheels  is  not  uniform, 
it  is  quite  likely  that  after  one  of  them  is  worn  down  an 
inch  or  two  it  will  get  out  of  balance.  A  means  of  quickly 
overcoming  this  is  shown  in  Fig.  2.  It  consists  of  bal- 
ancing flanges  having  light  spots,  which  may  be  placed 
either  opposite  or  together,  or  in  any  other  relation  to 
secure  the  desired  counterbalancing  effect.  The  use  of 
such  flanges  is  a  mighty  good  scheme  and  saves  time  in 
making  a  wheel  vibrationless. 

While  vibration  is  the  most  common  defect  of  the 
grinding  wheel,  it  is  not  the  most  important  one,  if  the 
importance  of  these  things  is  to  be 
measured  by  their  effects  on  safety.  Bad 
wheel  mountings  and  lack  of  guards 
have  been  responsible  for  more  accidents 
than  any  other  causes.  I  for  one  would 
much  prefer  to  stand  in  front  of  a  cor- 
rectly mounted  wheel  running  10  per 
cent,  overspeed  than  in  front  of  a  badly 
mounted  wheel  running  10  per  cent, 
underspeed. 

Clang!     Clang! 

"  There  goes  the  ambulance.  Won- 
der what's  the  matter!  Oh,  it's  old 
Bill  from  the  Triumph  Works  —  he's  all 
smashed  up.  Emery  wheel  let  go  and  hit 
him.  They  say  it  broke  three  ribs  and 
tore  off  half  of  his  face  —  mussed  him 
up  so  you  wouldn't  know  him.  Oh,  well, 
such  things  will  happen.  Say,  ain't  this  war  dreadful !  " 

Old  Bill  will  spend  the  next  two  months  in  the  hos- 
pital —  if  he  is  lucky  or  (unlucky)  enough  to  live  at  all. 
When  he  comes  out  he  will  be  as  complete  a  wreck  as 
any  shrapnel-torn  victim  of  bloody  carnage.  Bill's  boss 
says  the  war  should  be  stopped  —  that  it's  a  shame  for 
people  to  allow  such  things  to  happen  nowadays.  But 
why  did  ho  allow  Bill  to  run  his  wheel  without  a  guard 
and  with  flanges  that  were  too  small?  That  crime  of  neg- 
ligence will  stand  against  Bill's  boss  as  black  as  many  of 
the  war-inflamed  atrocities  against  those  who  in  blind 
anger  perpetrate  them.  You  can't  stop  the  war,  Mr. 
Small-Shop  Man,  but  you  can  make  your  grinding  wheels 
safe !  The  old  excuse  that  "  My  work  won't  allow  of  a 
guard "  is  getting  threadbare  and  won't  be  presentable 
much  longer. 

Grinding-wheel  guards  have  been  illustrated  so  fre- 
quently in  the  columns  of  the  American  Machinist  that 
I  will  not  attempt  to  illustrate  them  here.  All  reputable 
makers  of  grinding  stands  equip  them  with  guards,  and 
if  the  stand  is  a  home-made  affair  the  guard  can  be  also. 
Make  the  scroll  out  of  %  or  V^-in-  boiler  plate,  and  bolt 
on  side  plate  as  an  additional  precaution.  Keep  the 
inside  diameter  of  the  scroll  as  near  that  of  the  wheel  as 


possible,  so  that  if  a  wheel  lets  go,  it  can't  get  far  enough 
to  work  up  much  momentum. 

There  are  certain  principles  in  connection  with  mount- 
ing a  grinding  wheel  which  have  been  found  by  experience 
to  lessen  the  risk  of  breakage.  First,  the  bore  of  the 
wheel  should  be  about  0.005  in.  larger  than  the  diameter 


TABLE   1. 


MINIMUM    SIZES    IN    INCHES    OF    MACHINE 
SPINDLES 


Diam. 

in    'n. 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

14 
16 
18 


-Thickness    of    Wheels    in    Inches 

%     %    i     1%  1%  1%    2     2y4  2y2  2% 


I 


% 
% 


1 

1        1 
1        1 


1         1         1 

1%  iy* 


1 

1% 


1%   I'/i   1V4   1%   I'/i   1%  1%   1%   1% 


of  the  spindle,  or  in  other  words,  an  easy  fit.  The  inner 
flange  should  be  fixed  to  the  spindle,  either  being  shrunk 
on  and  turned  in  place  or  mounted  as  a  light  drive  on  a 
sliding  key.  Both  flanges  should  be  recessed  so  that  the 
wheel  is  grasped  by  the  outer  edges  of  the  flanges.  Blot- 
ting-paper gaskets  should  be  placed  between  the  flanges 
and  the  wheel,  and  the  wheel  itself  should  not  be  clamped 
too  tightly.  These  principles  apply  to  any  one  of  the 


PEG.  5.    KEEPING  GRINDING  WHEELS 
AT    PROPER  SPEED 


PIG.   6.  BE  SURE  THAT  THE  SPINDLE 
NUT  TENDS   TO   TIGHTEN 


four  methods  of  mounting,  shown  in  Fig.  3,  of  which  the 
most  common  are  shown  at  A  and  B,  being  what  are 
called  the  "  straight  "  mounting  and  the  "  safety  "  mount- 
ing respectively.  Unguarded  wheels  should  be  of  the 
safety  type,  with  flanges  so  large  that  the  wheel  itself 
does  not  extend  over  two  inches  beyond  them.  The  use 
of  these  flanges,  however,  should  not  be  taken  as  an  excuse 

TABLE  2.      DIMENSIONS  IN  INCHES  OF  TAPERED  FLANGES 
AND   TAPERED    WHEELS    WHERE    HOODS    ARE 

NOT  USED  IN  CONJUNCTION  THEREWITH 
a  Maximum  flat  spot  at  center  of  flange,     b  Flat  spot  at  center 
of  wheel,     c  Minimum  diameter  of  flange,      d  Minimum  thickness 
of  flange  at  bore,     e  Minimum  diameter  of  recess  in  taper  flanges, 
f  Minimum  thickness  of  each  flange  for  single  taper  at  bore. 


%  3%          % 

%  4  % 

%  5%  % 

t7  % 

g  1 

to  do  without  a  guard.  The  ideal  scheme  may  be  said 
to  be  to  use  both  precautions,  making  doubly  sure  against 
accident.  A  well-known  form  of  safety  flange  is  shown  in 
Fig.  4.  It  is  the  product  of  the  Safety  Emery  Wheel  Co., 
of  Springfield,  Ohio. 

Be  sure  that  the  wheel  rotates  in  a  direction  that  tends 


Diam.  of 

Wheel  in 

a 

b 

c 

In. 

6 

0 

1 

3 

8 

0 

1 

5 

10 

0 

2 

6 

12 

4 

4% 

6 

14 

4 

«% 

g 

16 

4 

6 

10 

18 

4 

6 

12 

(15) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


to  tighten,  and  not  loosen,  the  outer  flange  nut.  Vibra- 
tion will  cause  a  nut  to  dance  off  of  the  end  of  the  spindle 
if  this  precaution  is  not  taken,  and  it  is  sometimes  annoy- 
ing to  have  to  dodge  the  wheel  that  follows,  or  to  repair 
the  hole  in  the  shop  roof  left  by  its  exit.  The  illustra- 
tion, Fig.  6,  shows  the  proper  thread  to  'use  for  various 
rotations  and  hands  of  wheels. 

Grinding  wheels  cut  most  efficiently  at  certain  definite 
speeds,  depending  upon  the  grain,  grade  and  use.  Usu- 
ally this  speed  is  stamped  upon  the  wheel  by  the  makers, 
in  terms  of  revolutions  per  minute.  This  does  very  well 
for  a  new  wheel ;  but  as  work  is  done  and  the  wheel  is 
dressed,  it  becomes  smaller  in  diameter,  and  while  the 


FIG.  7.     ENLARGING  THE  HOLE 

IN  A  GRINDING 

WHEEL 


PIG.  8.     THINK  OF  THE 

GRINDING  WHEEL  AS 

A  CIRCULAR  SAW 


Waved  or  Twisted  Dresser 
FIG.  9.     PLENTY  OF  VARIETIES  TO  CHOOSE  FROM 


Guard  for 
Wheel  Dresser 


revolutions  per  minute  stay  the  same  the  surface  speed 
decreases  and  the  wheel  becomes  less  efficient.  The 
scheme  shown  in  Fig.  5  is  a  good  one  to  overcome  this 
drawback  in  a  shop  where  two  or  more  grinding  stands 
are  in  operation.  As  the  wheels  become  smaller,  they  are 
transferred  to  spindles  of  higher  speed.  Limit  pins  are 
used,  as  shown,  to  prevent  getting  on  a  wheel  larger  than 
is  proper  for  the  spindle  speed. 

A  grinding  wheel  should  be  thought  of  as  a  circular 
saw.  When  the  teeth  are  sharp  and  the  cutting  speed  is 
right,  it  removes  metal  freely.  Such  a  wheel  is  illustrated 
diagrammatically  in  Fig.  8  at  A.  A  "loaded"  wheel  is 
shown  at  B,  in  which  the  teeth  still  remain  but  have  their 
spaces  filled  with  the  material  being  ground,  so  that  cut- 
ting is  slow.  A  glazed  wheel  corresponds  to  a  saw  with 
its  teeth  ground  away,  and  is  shown  at  C.  Very  fre- 
quently the  tendency  of  a  wheel  either  to  load  or  glaze 
may  be  overcome  by  running  at  a  decreased  speed.  On 
the  other  hand,  wheels  which  appear  to  be  too  soft  are 


made  to  operate  correctly  by  increasing  their  speed,  tak- 
ing care,  however,  not  to  exceed  the  safe  limit. 

There  is  no  excuse  for  the  small-shop  owner  pleading 
ignorance  of  good  grinding-wheel  practice.  The  Com- 
mittee Report  of  the  National  Machine  Tool  Builders  on 
grinding-wheel  and  machine  safeguards  was  published  in 

TABLE  3.       DIMENSIONS  IN  INCHES  OF  STRAIGHT  FLANGES 

AND   STRAIGHT  WHEELS  AND  FOR  SAFETY  FLANGES 

USED  WITH  PROTECTION  HOODS 


A 

B 

C 

D 

Diam.  of 

Min.  Outside 

Min.  Diam. 

Min.  Thickness 

Wheel  in  In. 

Diam.  of  Flange 

of  Recess  * 

of  Flange  at  Bore 

6 

2 

1 

% 

8 

3 

2 

% 

10 

3% 

2V* 

% 

12 

4 

2% 

Vi 

14 

4% 

3 

% 

16 

5% 

3H 

18 

6 

4 

% 

*  Recess  to  be  at  least  Via-in.  deep. 

the  American  Machinist  in  Vol.  40  on  p.  921.  An  elab- 
orate table  showing  the  causes  of  emery-wheel  accidents 
was  published  in  Vol.  39,  p.  1060.  On  p.  129  of  Vol. 
42  a  comprehensive  "  safety  code  "  drawn  up  by  a  commit- 
tee appointed  by  the  abrasive-wheel  manufacturers  was 
presented  to  the  readers.  All  three  of  these  reports,  mod- 
ified and  combined,  were  presented  in  one  paper  l  at  the 
recent  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers. 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  this  paper: 

Before  mounting,  all  wheels  shall  be  closely  inspected  to  make 
sure  that  they  have  not  been  injured  in  transit,  storage, 
or  otherwise.  For  added  precaution,  wheels  other  than  of  the 
elastic  and  vulcanite  types  should  be  tapped  slightly  with  a  ham- 
mer ;  if  they  do  not  ring  with  a '  clear  tone  they  should  not  be 
used.  Stamped  wheels  when  tapped  with  a  hammer  may  not 
give  a  clear  tone.  Wheels  must  be  dry  and  free  from  sawdust 
when  applying  this  test. 

Wheel  spindles  shall  be  of  sufficient  length  to  permit  of  the 
nuts  being  drawn  up  at  least  flush  with  the  end  of  the  spindle, 
thus  providing  a  bearing  for  the  entire  length  of  nut. 

Protruding  ends  of  the  wheel  arbors  and  their  nuts  shall  be 
guarded. 

Flanges,  whether  straight  or  tapered,  must  be  frequently 
inspected  to  guard  against  the  use  of  flanges  which  have  be- 
come bent  or  sprung  out  of  true  or  out  of  balance.  If  a  tapered 
wheel  has  broken,  the  tapered  flanges  must  be  carefully  'inspected 

TABLE  4.  REVOLUTIONS  PER  MINUTE  TO  GIVE 
PERIPHERAL  SPEED  IN  FEET.  PER  MINUTE 


Diam.  of 

Wheel  in  In. 

4,000 

4,500 

5,000 

5,500 

6,000 

6,500 

6 

2,546 

2,865 

3,183 

3,500 

3,820 

4,140 

7 

2,183 

2,455 

2,728 

3,000 

3,274 

•  3,550 

8 

1,910 

2,150 

2,387 

2,635 

2,865 

3,100 

10 

1,528 

1,720 

1,910 

2,100 

2,292 

2,485 

12 

1,273 

1,453 

1,592 

1,750 

1,910 

2,070 

14 

1,091 

1,228 

1,364 

1,500 

1,637 

1,773 

16 

955 

1,075 

1,194 

1,314 

1,432 

1,552 

18 

849 

957 

1,061 

1,167 

1,273 

1,380 

20 

764 

S60 

955 

1,050 

1,146 

1,241 

(16) 


for  truth  before  using  with  a  new  wheel.  Clamping  nuts  shall  also 
be  inspected. 

The  work  rest  must  be  kept  adjusted  close  to  the  wheel 
to  prevent  the  work  from'  being  caught.  Work  rest  must  be 
rigid  and  always  securely  clamped  after  each  adjustment. 

A  speed  of  5,000  peripheral  feet  per  minute  is  recommended 
as  the  standard  operating  speed  for  vitrified  and  silicate 
straight  wheels,  tapered  wheels,  and  shapes  other  than  those 
known  as-  cup  and  cylinder  wheels,  which  are  used  on  bench 
floor,  swing-frame  and  other  machines  for  rough  grinding. 
Speeds  exceeding  5,000  ft.  may  be  used  upon  recommendation  of 
the  wheel  manufacturers,  but  in  :no  case  shall  a  speed  of  6,500 
peripheral  feet  be  exceeded. 

A  wheel  used  in  wet  grinding  shall  not  be  allow'ed  to  stand 
partly  immersed  in  the  water.  The  water-soaked  portion  may 
throw  the  wheel  dangerously  out  of  balance. 

Work  shall  not  be  forced  against  a  cold  wheel,  but  applied 
gradually,  giving  the  wheel  an  opportunity  to  warm  and 
thereby  eliminate  possible  breakage.  This  applies  to  starting 
work  in  the  morning  in  grinding  rooms  which  are  not  heated 
in  winter,  and  to  new  wheels  which  have  been  stored  in  a  cold 
place. 

1  Copies  of  this  report  may  be  obtained  from  the  A.  S.  M.  E. 
by  mentioning  its  title,  "  Safety  Code  for  the  Use  and  Care  of 
Abrasive  Wheels,"  and  inclosing  lOc.  with  the  request. 


The  Small-Shop  Grinder 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  Machine  grinding  is  not  by  any 
means  restricted  to  large  shops.  It  is  true  that 
the  average  small  shop  cannot  afford  to  install 
a  specialized  machine  with  a  small  range  of  work 
for  this  purpose,  hut  it  should  investigate  the 
use  of  grinders  of  the  universal  type  having  a 
broad  range.  In  this  article  the  problem  <is 
attacked  from  the  small-shop  angle,  and  the  causes 
and  remedies  of  common  grinding  troubles  are 
given. 

The  small-shop  man  does  not  ordinarily  make  his 
acquaintance  with  the  art  of  grinding  on  what  is  called 
a  "  grinder."  His  introduction  to  this  method  of  remov- 
ing metal  comes  by  way  of  a  casting  snagger,  such  as 
was  described  in  "  The  Small-Shop  Grinding  Wheel,"  on 


FIG.   1. 


SURFACE-GRINDING    ATTACHMENT    APPLIED 
TO   THE    PLANER 


page  14  of  this  volume.  This  acquaintanceship  broadens 
out  through  experience  with  various  improvised  grinding 
devices,  which  are  applied  at  various  times  to  each 
machine  in  the  shop,  from  the  engine  lathe  to  the  planer, 
usually  with  more  or  less  unsatisfactory  results.  Finally 
comes  the  ultimate  achievement  —  the  purchase  of  a 
"  tool  grinder " —  which  usually  accompanies  the  advent 
of  the  first  miller.  In  the  majority  of  small  shops  the 
owner  "  guesses "  that  this  is  as  far  as  it  is  safe  to  go 
in  the  installation  of  grinding  equipment.  Whether  this 
is  a  good  or  a  bad  guess  depends  greatly  on  the  kind  of 
work  that  is  being  done,  but  I  venture  to  say  that  it  is  a 
bad  guess  in  a  great  many  cases. 

'  One  of  the  wrong  notions  of  grinding  is  that  its  object 
is  only  to  obtain  a  fine,  smooth,  accurate  job.  In  75 
per  cent,  of  the  large  shops  that  finish  work  by  this 
means  the  compelling  object  is  not  the  fine  finish  so 
much  as  the  reduction  in  cost  that  can  be  obtained  over 
the  old  method  of  finishing  'by  fussing  with  fine  cuts  and 
a  file.  Lathe  hands  will  not  Start  to  file  on  a  shaft  that 
is  left  full  of  grooves  from  a  roughing  cut  —  it  is  too 


much  like  work.  The  grinder  has  no  such  notions  about 
the  matter,  however,  and  will  tackle  the  roughest  job  with 
the  same  degree  of  self-confidence  that  it  displays  on 
going  over  a  glasslike  surface.  One  good  way  to  look 
at  the  grinder  is  as  a  filing  and  polishing  machine,  a 
device  that  will  do  the  finishing  much  more  quickly  and 
with  less  need  of  skill  than  is  required  to  manipulate 
the  file  and  emery  cloth. 

"  I  don't  need  a  grinder  in  my  shop,"  says  Bill  Jones ; 
"  my  lots  are  too  small.  I  seldom  have  more  than  six 
like  pieces  going  through  the  shop  at  the  same  time." 
By  the  same  token,  as  the  Irishman  would  say,  Bill 
doesn't  need  a  lathe  or  any  other  tool  in  his  shop;  for 
having  such  small  lots,  he  should  hog  out  the  work  with 
vise  and  cold  chisel.  You  will  find  someone  able  to 
advance  the  most  plausible  objections  against  the  use  of 
any  improvement  that  ever  was  invented,  and  the  old 


FIG.   2. 


TRAVERSE    SPINDLE    GRINDER    ATTACHED    TO 
THE   ENGINE   LATHE 


excuse  of  "  small  lots "  is  a  standby  in  the  shop  where 
progressiveness  has  taken  a  back  seat  in  favor  of  precedence 
and  habit. 

It  is  easier  to  set  up  a  grinder  for  an  average  job  than 
to  get  a  lathe  ready  for  business,  and  the  time  saved 
even  on  one  piece  will  often  overbalance  the  setting-up 
time  of  the  additional  machine.  Work  that  is  similar, 
such  as  grinding  shafts  of  various  lengths,  can  be  handled 
with  the  same  set-up  simply  by  moving  the  tailstock  and 
obtaining  a  suitable  work  speed.  Where  there's  a  will 
there's  a  way;  and  where  a  way  is  found,  nine  times  in 
ten  there  is  profit  also  discovered. 

The  small  shop  that  wishes  to  cut  its  eye  teeth  on 
the  subject  of  grinding,  at  a  minimum  of  expense,  may 
do  so  by  means  of  a  tool-post  grinder  similar  to  that 
shown  in  Fig.  1.  The  advent  of  a  small  and  durable 
electric  motor  makes  this  arrangement  practical,  as  it 
dispenses  with  long  overhead  pulleys  and  traveling  belts. 
An  outfit  of  this  kind  will  convert  almost  any  machine 
tool  into  a  grinder  of  sorts.  In  the  illustration,  Fig.  1, 
it  is  shown  applied  to  a  job  of  surface  grinding,  in 


(17) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


which  a  planer  table  is  used  to  traverse  the  work  and 
the  planer  head  to  crossfeed  the  wheel.  Such  a  device 
cannot  be  expected  to  do  the  work  of  a  machine  especially 
designed  for  grinding.  For  one  reason,  the  bearings  are 
less  rigid  and  will  in  time  get  loose;  but  if  they  are 
kept  in  first-class  condition  and  too  heavy  cutting  is 
not  attempted,  this  tool-post  grinder  will  answer  the 


the  double  purpose  of  grinding  the  lathe  tools  and  cutting 
down  the  time  otherwise  wasted  in  walking  to  and  from 
the  regular  tool-grinding  wheel. 

For  a  more  accurate  class  of  work  the  traverse-spindle 
grinder,  shown  in  Fig.  2,  is  applied  to  lathes  or  millers 
with  satisfactory  results.  The  accuracy  of  the  grinding, 
assuming  that  the  fixture  is  in  good  condition,  depends 


!•  f  f  ? 


A.X*-,%.X\xyvlV\vVVVCA.A.V<V 

WHEEL  OUT  OF  BALANCE          BAD  BELT  JOINT 
(TRUE  AND' BALANCE        ......         (MAKE  ENDLESS) 

If  NKESSARY) **m        \         SIDE  PLAY 


WHEEL  TOO  SOFT 

(TRT  A  HARDER 

ONE) 


SIDE  PLAY  OF  BELT 

ir*— -(TIGHTEN  BELT) 


iii« iiiii|iini Hiiiiiipiiiiii mnui 

A  DEPTH  OF  CUT  TOO  GREAT 

/T-OV   A   TKQUTCD  riKIT^ 


CENTER  HOLES 

TOO  SMALL 
(REDRILL  THEM) 


.     LOOSE  BEARINGS 
-;;;----;(TAKE  UP) 


EPTH  OF  CUT  TOO  GREAT 
(TRY  A  TIGHTER  ONE)  ^  ^ 

BY  WHEEL 


DOG  SET  ON!  LKUNt'     WORK  SET  IN  VIBRATION 

AN  ANGLE  WORK  SPEED  TOO  HIGH  BY  WHEEL 

(CUSHION  WITH ("UN  SUWO)  (USE  STEADY  RESTS) 

BELT  LACE)  COUNTERSHAFT  OUT  OF  BALANCE 

(TEST  AND  REBALANCE  IT) 


I/Ill         "Hill"  ••<,/!••  •'"'//'"       ""/ 

!IDDLE  OF  WORJCOUT  OF  ROUND  OR  SIZE 

'Hii'        -""iiiimiiiiiiuii"        ••""iiiiiinii" ^j 


C 


nW  "»\\\\v.  >\\\\\4 

J..ENDS  OF  WORK  OUT  OF  ROUND 

mtiDDlh'  ••"iilimii "HI 

DEAD  CENTCR  WORN  OUT  OF  ROUND ---> 
(REGRIND) 


WORK  LOOSE  BETWEEN 

CENTERS 
—(ADJUST  TAIL  CENTER) 


TAPER  ON  STRAIGHT  WORK 


WHEEL  REDUCED  IN  DIAMETER 
DURING  TRAVERSE 

(REDUCE  DEPTH  OF  cur) 


DIRT  IN  DEAD  CENTER  BEARING 
— (CLEAN  OUT  CAREFULLY) 


.ilt||||||i.     I.-1" 

llllni. 


CAM 


HEAT 
STRAINS 
(TURN  ON  i 

MORE  WATER) 


INTERNAL  STRAINS  IN  THE  PIECE 
(ANNEAL) 


KIIHKi mnmim...... 


WORK  OUT  OF  BALANCE 

(DEDUCE  YIORK  SPEED  AND 

APPLY  STEADY  REST) 


FIG.    3. 


CAUSES    AND    REMEDIES    FOR    MANY    OF    THE    COMMON  GRINDING  TROUBLES  MET  IN  BOTH  SMALL  AND 

LAKGE  SHOPS 


purpose  on  the  occasional  job  that  cannot  be  handled  by 
any  other  means.  A  grinder  of  this  same  type  does  excel- 
lent work  in  the  lathe,  if  the  precautions  necessary  to  be 
followed  in  doing  the  same  kind  of  work  on  a  regular 
grinder  are  observed. 

In  many  shops  it  is  considered  sufficient  to  stick  the 
motor-driven  grinding  wheel  in  the  tool  post,  put  long 
slender  work  between  centers  and  start  to  cut.  In  such 
cases  it  is  usual  to  run  the  work  speed  well  beyond  the 
limit  required  for  turning  the  same  diameter,  and  also 
to  use  a  hard  close-grained  wheel.  When  the  job  is 
finished,  the  boss  wants  to  know  who  has  been  hammering 
at  the  shaft  and  has  put  in  all  the  flat  spots  that  are 
plentifully  distributed  over  the  surface  of  the  work.  A 
much  softer  wheel,  a  work  speed  one-third  that  required 
for  a  high-speed  tool  cutting  on  similar  material  and 
the  use  of  back  rests  supporting  the  work  from  the  back 
and  from  beneath  on  shock-absorbing  wooden  blocks  will 
give  quite  different  results. 

A  portable  grinder  of  this  kind  can  be  used  all  around 
the  shop.  On  the  miller  it  will  grind  a  fresh  edge  on 
cutters  without  removing  them  from  the  spindle;  and 
when  no  other  pressing  use  can  be  found,  it  can  be  bolted 
to  the  vacant  end  of  the  lathe  bed  and  made  available  for 


solely  on  the  truth  of  the  headstock  or  miller  spindle  by 
which  the  piece  to  be  ground  is  rotated.  An  outfit  of  the 
kind  shown  is  inexpensive  and  will  handle  the  most 
accurate  work.  It  is  driven  from  overhead,  usually  by 
means  of  a  round  or  twisted  belt,  and  necessitates  the 
use  of  a  drum  pulley  for  this  purpose,  unless  a  small 
motor  equipped  with  a  driving  pulley  is  mounted  on  the 
same  slide. 

One  of  the  peculiar  things  about  a  traverse-spindle 
grinder  that  its  operator  must  learn  by  experience  is 
that  the  bearings  are  not  in  proper  condition  unless  they 
run  hot.  If  they  do  not,  it  is  a  sign  that  they  are  too 
loose  for  an  accurate  grinding  job  to  be  obtained.  When 
you  can  rest  your  finger  with  comfort  on  the  bearings  of 
a  contrivance  of  this  kind,  there  is  something  the  matter 
with  it! 

A  grinding  device  of  this  simple  and  inexpensive  type 
is  suitable,  not  only  for  internal  work,  but  also  for  angular 
and  external  work,  since  it  can  be  swiveled  about  to  any 
angle.  In  spite  of  its  apparent  lightness  and  the  small 
dimensions  of  its  spindle  and  bearings  it  will  handle  a  very 
respectable  cut  in  hardened  steel. 

The  universal  grinder  presents  itself  as  the  next  step 
in  advance  for  the  small-shop  man  who  has  outgrown 


(18) 


THE  SMALL-SHOP  GRINDER 


the  use  of  the  foregoing  expedients.  It  is  true  that  a 
machine  of  this  kind  costs  considerably  more  than  a 
simple  tool  grinder  that  may  fill  the  bill  for  some  time 
after  its  purchase.  On  the  other  hand,  the  range  of  work 
of  a  universal  machine  is  so  great  that  this  must  be 
taken  into  consideration  and  weighed  as  a  part  of  the 
value  received  per  dollar  expended.  A  machine  that 
costs  $800  and  that  is  capable  of  earning  $8,000  during 
its  life  of  usefulness  is  a  much  better  investment  than 
one  that  costs  but  $200  and  can  earn  $1,000.  In  the 
case  of  the  universal  grinder  you  have  as  an  asset  its 
capability  of  handling  commercial  grinding,  not  as 
rapidly,  of  course,  as  it  could  be  done  on  a  plain  machine 
of  the  same  capacity,  but  fast  enough  to  bring  in  a  good 
profit.  Such  a  machine  should  always  be  equipped  for 
wet  grinding. 

This  type  of  tool  will  handle  not  only  all  the  grinding 
requirements  of  the  small-shop  tools  and  cutters,  but  also 
its  commercial  precision  grinding — internal,  external 
and  angular — and  a  good  range  of  commercial  cylindrical 
and  taper  grinding  in  addition.  In  the  average  small 
shop  it  will  be  a  long  while  before  the  demands  for  com- 
mercial work  on  a  machine  of  this  sort  exceed  its  capacity 
in  spare  time.  When  such  a  time  does  arrive,  it  will  be 
sufficiently  soon  to  investigate  the  plain  grinder  as  a  means 
of  handling  this  work. 


WET  OR  DRY  GRINDING 

The  question  of  "  wet  or  dry "  is  an  absorbing  one  to 
the  citizens  of  many  of  our  states,  where  the  matter  is 
eventually  settled  by  ballot.  When  it  comes  to  grinding, 
opinion  is  more  unanimous  and  is  quite  in  favor  of  "  wet." 
The  use  of  a  lubricant,  or  rather  "  coolant,"  on  the 
grinder  helps  to  make  quick  time  and  to  give  a  smooth 
job,  but  its  main  purpose  is  to  prevent  the  distortion  that 
would  otherwise  occur,  due  to  heating.  When  you  consider 
that  the  chips  torn  from  the  work  in  grinding  are  raised 
to  a  temperature  corresponding  to  the  welding  point  of 
steel,  the  subject  of  temperature  and  the  need  of  a  cooling 
fluid  take  on  a  new  importance.  Oftentimes  the  water 
attachment  is  dispensed  with  as  being  a  mussy  contraption, 
a  green  hand  finding  that  he  needs  a  bathing  suit  more 
than  a  micrometer  to  help  him  navigate  a  grinder.  This 
is  all  wrong  and  unnecessary ;  for  if  the  stream  is  properly 
directed  against  the  work,  there  will  be  absolutely  no 
splash. 

Among  the  things  to  keep  in  mind  in  operating  a 
grinder  is  to  use  work  surface  speeds  ranging  from  25 
to  35  ft.  per  min.  when  roughing,  and  25  per  cent,  faster 
for  finishing.  As  soft  a  wheel  as  possible  should  be  used 
for  the  job,  and  the  traverse  per  revolution  should  be 
between  five-eighths  and  seven-eighths  of  the  wheel  face, 
in  order  to  prevent  wearing  away  its  edges. 

Some  of  the  most  common  grinder  troubles  are  repre- 
sented in  Fig.  3,  which  gives  their  causes  and  also  the 
remedies  to  be  applied  in  getting  rid  of  them.  They  arc 
included  in  this  article,  not  to  dishearten  one  who  is 
contemplating  the  use  of  the  grinder,  but  as  a  help  for 
those  who  already  have  such  machines.  The  former  must 
remember  that  even  in  a  foundry  there  are  forty-seven 
ways  of  making  a  bad  casting  and  that  the  comparatively 
few  causes  of  trouble  on  grinders  are  really  a  recom- 
mendation for  this  type  cf  machine. 


A  Handy  Clip  for  Hanging  Wet 
Blueprints 

BY  E.  H.  GIBSON 

Draftsmen  will  agree  that  the  market  has  little  to 
offer  in  the  way  of  a  convenient  device  for  hanging! 
blueprints  to  dry.  Except  in  the  case  of  such  draft- 
ing rooms  as  are  equipped  with  elaborate  drying  and 
ironing  machines,  little  consideration  is  given  to  the 


u               jy 

BLUE-PRINT 

*=tf==w=  =y; 

BUIE-PRINT 

WOOD  CLIP  FOR  HANGING  BLUEPRINTS 

matter,  the  problem  usually  being  left  to  the  blue- 
print boy,  who  hangs  them  to  dry  on  lines  and  sticks 
in  much'  the  same  manner  as  the  first  blueprint  on  earth 
was  dried.  Prints  dried  by  this  primitive  method  are 
wrinkled  and  present  an  untidy  appearance  in  general 
even  before  being  used;  but  we  have  learned  to  accept 
this  condition  as  a  matter  of  course  where  there  is  no 
ironing  machine. 


A  WOODEN  BLUEPRINT  CLIP 

The  illustration  shows  a  home-made  blueprint  clip 
which  the  writer  has  found  to  answer  the  requirements 
satisfactorily.  It  is  made  of  wood  and  consists  of  a 
body  having  a  large  open  slot  in  one  end  and  a  trigger 
hinged  at  right  angles  to  this  slot.  The  trigger  must 
work  freely  in  order  that  it  may  fall  into  place  of  its 
own  weight.  The  length  of  the  trigger  must  be  so 
calculated  that  the  outer  end  strikes  the  opposite  side 
of  the  slot  at  a  point  slightly  above  the  center  line.  A 
small  nail  or  wire  serves  as  a  hinge  for  the  trigger.  A 
hole  is  made  in  the  body,  as  at  A,  and  a  number  of  the 
clips,  depending  on  requirements,  are  strung  on  a  line. 
At  least  two  clips  must  be  used  to  hang  one  blueprint, 
but  three  or  four  should  be  used  for  the  larger-sized 
sheets  to  make  them  hang  smoothly.  The  hole  should 
be  made  no  larger  than  necessary,  so  that  if  the  clip 
is  pulled  to  an  oblique  position  it  causes  a  binding  action. 
This  feature  is  useful  for  the  purpose  of  stretching  the 
blueprints  and  making  them  hang  smoothly.  The  clips 
in  the  corners  of  the  blueprints  shown  are  used  in  this 
manner.  These  clips  require  no  manipulation  except 
to  slide  them  into  place  on  the  line,  which  can  easily 
be  done  while  holding  the  wet  blueprint  in  the  hands. 
Blueprints  dried  on  these  clips  are  as  smooth  as  if 
ironed. 


(19) 


Knurling  in  the  Small  Shop 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  This  article  describes  the  methods 
of  marking  and  using  knurls.  Cut,  rolled  and 
fancy  knurls  are  described,  and  methods  are  given 
for  using  them  on  all  the  machines  found  in  the 
small  shop. 

Every  machinist  and  almost  every  apprentice  has  in 
his  tool  box  one  or  more  knurls  that  he  is  quite  sure 
beat  anything  any  other  man  ever  made.  Also,  very 
good  knurls  in  a  large  assortment  of  patterns  may  be 
bought  ready  to  mount  in  a  holder  and  use.  With  this 
prolific  source  of  supply  it  may  be  asked  why  the  small- 
shop  man  should  be  interested  in  knowing  how  to  make 
knurls.  But  a  small-shop  man  must  be  posted  on  many 
things  that  the  large-shop  man  does  not  need  to  know, 
for  in  the  course  of  his  varied  and  exciting  existence 


it 


STeeffi 
perlnch 


ISTeeth 
perlnci 


ZOTeefh 
perlnch 


Fine 


Coarse  wwvw\A  Me 
FIG.    1.'    ANGLES    FOR    CUTTING    COARSE,    MEDIUM    AND 
FINE  SPIRAL,  KNURLS 


FIG.    2.     ANGLES 
FOR  TEETH 


FIG.    3.     OBTAINING   THE  DEPTH 
OF  KNURLED  TEETH 


he  rubs  up  against  circumstances  that  are  quite  outside 
of  his  snecial  line.  And  also,  a  knowledge  of  how  things 
are  made  does  not  interfere  with  knowing  how  to  employ 
them. 

Knurling  is  one  branch  of  the  process  by  which  impres- 
sions are  transferred  from  one  material  to  another  by 
rolling.  It  is  in  the  same  class  as  thread  rolling  and 
the  making  of  index  dials  by  the  rolling;  process. 
Knurling  is  applied  to  both  flat  and  curved  surfaces, 
and  the  tool  itself  may  be  either  flat  or  curved.  Where 
the  work  is  flat,  the  knurl  is  circular;  but  when  the 
work  is  circular,  the  knurl  may  be  either  circular  or 
flat.  An  example  of  circular  work  and  flat  tool  is  the 
method  of  knurling  work  held  in  lathe  centers  by  allow- 
ing a  coarse  file  to  "float"  upon  it. 

I  will  pass  up  the  ornamental  knurls  for  the  present 
and  speak  of  the  kind  that  will  be  found  of  greatest 
service  in  small  shops  —  the  straight  and  spiral  patterns. 
These  are  originally  produced  by  cutting  what  is  known 
as  a  "  master  knurl."  From  this  master,  which  is  the 
same  as  the  impression  desired  on  the  work,  other  knurls 
are  produced  by  rolling  and  are  used  in  the  shop,  the 
master  being  kept  for  reproducing  purposes.  Sometimes 


this  process  is  carried  back  and  forth  many  times,  until 
the  offspring  lose  their  family  resemblance.  The  great- 
grandchild of  a  master  knurl  will  not  produce  as  good 
work  as  his  grand-daddy,  and  for  this  reason  the  best 
knurling  is  procured  directly  from  machine-cut  knurls 
without  the  use  of  masters. 

The  knurl  has  been  called  a  "  putting-on  tool."  It 
increases  the  diameter  of  the  work,  because  metal  is 
forced  up  between  the  knurl  teeth.  Knurls  and  thread 
rolls  are  similar  in  their  action,  knurling  being  simply 
a  case  of  rolling  multiple  threads.  The  stock  diameter 
increases  in  knurling  as  it  does  in  thread  milling  and 
in  bqth  cases  may  be  figured  roughly  as  equal  to  the 
depth  of  the  tooth  produced,  this  being  the  same*  as 
saying  that  the  knurl  tooth  goes  down  halfway  into  the 
stock  and  forces  the  stock  halfway  up  into  itself.  The 
coarser  the  pitch  of  the  teeth  of  the  knurl  the  deeper 


FIG.    4.      VARYING    THE    DEPTH    OF    CUT    GIVES    SOME 
RANGE  AS  TO  THE  NUMBER  OF  TOOTH  IMPRESSIONS 


ABC 

FIG.    5.     PATTERNS    OBTAINED    WITH    DIAMOND    KNURLS 
BY  VARYING  THE  DEPTH  OF  CUT 

these  teeth  become.  The  result  is  that  more  pressure 
must  be  brought  against  the  work  in  order  to  raise  the 
impression.  For  straight  and  spiral  knurls  it  is  well 
not  to  have  less  than  eight  teeth  per  inch  for  the  coarsest 
pitch. 

In  a  spiral  knurl  the  finer  the  pitch  the  less  may 
be  the  angle  made  with  the  axis  of  the  knurl.  This 
is  shown  in  Fig.  1,  which  gives  pitch  and  angles  for 
coarse,  medium  and  fine  spiral  knurls.  The  greater  this 
spiral  angle  becomes  the  less  is  the  "  bite "  taken  across 
the  face  of  the  kn*url,  and  it  is  for 'this  reason  that  this 
angle  is  made  greater  on  the  coarse  pitches.  It  also 
follows  that  a  finer  feed  must  be  employed  on  coarse- 
pitch  knurls  than  on  fine-pitch  ones,  in  order  to  get  full 
tooth  impressions. 

The  angle  of  the  knurl  tooth  varies  with  the  hardness 
of  the  material  to  be  knurled.  Various  angles  are 
illustrated  in  Fig.  2;  they  are  suitable  for  brass,  soft 
steel  and  tool  steel.  It  also  follows  that  the  harder  the 
material  to  be  knurled  the  finer  should  be  the  pitch  of 
the  knurl,  so  that  a  sharp  tooth  angle  and  a  fine  pitch 
usually  go  together.  This  distinction,  so  far  as  hardness- 
is  concerned,  is  an  important  one. 
(20) 


KNURLING  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 


Having  the  circular  pitch  of  a  spiral  knurl  and  the 
number  of  teeth,  the  diameter  is  found  by  multiplying 
the  circular  pitch  by  the  number  of  teeth.  A  simple 
way  of  obtaining  the  tooth  depth  is  given  in  Fig.  3. 
XY  and  YG  are  laid  out'  at  right  angles,  and  points  A 
and  B  are  laid  out  on  line  XY  at  a  distance  apart  corre- 
sponding to  the  circular  pitch  of  the  knurl.  Through 
these  points  lines  AC  and  BG  are  drawn  representing 
the  teeth  and  making  an  angle  with  the  line  YZ  equal 
to  the  angle  of  the  spiral  knurl.  The  line  CB  is  drawn 
perpendicular  to  the  line  AC,  and  the  lines  CF  and  BF 
are  drawn  at  an  angle  A  equal  to  one-half  of  180  deg. 
minus  the  tooth  angle  as  shown  in  Fig.  2.  In  other 

(180  —  60) 
words,  for  tool  steel   the  angle  A   will  be  - 

2 

60  deg.  For  brass  the  angle  A  will  be  45  deg.  and  for 
soft  steel  55  deg.  The  height  of  the  triangle  thus 
formed,  represented  by  the  line  EF,  will  be  the  tooth 


PIG.    6. 


A    SIMPLE    ARRANGEMENT    FOR    MAKING    A 
SPIRAL  KNURL  ON  THE  MILLER 


depth.  If  this  diagram  is  laid  out  on  paper  ten  times 
full  size,  the  depth  may  be  read  off  in  thousandths  of 
an  inch  by  means  of  a  scale  reading  in  hundredths. 

These  calculations  apply  to  the  diameter  of  the  knurl 
itself,  but  a  similar  calculation  is  not  often  necessary 
for  the  diameter  oi;  stock,  although  in  a  case  of  coarse- 
pitch  knurls  an  attempt  must  be  made  to  get  the  correct 
stock  diameter  to  avoid  tooth  impressions  overlapping. 

This  diameter  may  be  "  found  "  more  easily  than  it  can 
be  "  calculated."  The  thing  to  do  is  to  leave  the  stock 
a  trifle  large  and  reduce  it  until  the  tooth  impressions 
come  out  with  no  overlapping.  On  fine-tooth  knurls 
this  is  not  necessary,  for  a  little  more  or  less  pressure 
when  the  knurl  gets  to  its  depth  will  bring  satisfactory 
results.  If  you  have  but  one  piece  to  knurl,  it  is  better 
to  use  a  fine  knurl  and  not  have  to  make  experiments 
on  the  diameter;  but  if  a  large  number  of  pieces  are 
to,  be  knurled  in  the  screw  machine,  the  time  spent  in 
experimenting  with  one  of  them  will  not  be  of  much 
importance. 

Varying  the  depth  of  the  cut  gives  a  slight  range  as 
to  number  of  tooth  impressions,  as  shown  in  Fig.  4,  and 


also  produces  a  variation  in  pattern  in  the  case  of 
diamond  knurls,  as  may  be  seen  in  Fig.  5.  Full-depth 
knurling  produces  the  pattern  at  A.  Fig.  5,  while  B  and 
C  are  modifications  corresponding  to  the  depths  at  B 
and  C,  Fig.  4.  If  the  object  of  knurling  is  to  provide 
a  grip  for  the  hand,  as  upon  a  chuck  body,  knurling 
to  part  depth  is  advisable,  since  it  gives  sufficient  rough- 
ness to  enable  the  piece  to  be  gripped  without  having 
the  sharpness  of  full-depth  knurling,  which  is  likely  to 
hurt  the  hand. 

Straight-tooth    knurls    are    easily    cut    on    a    lathe    by 
holding  the  blank  between   centers   and   indexing  on  the 

back  gears.  The  tool  is 
held  horizontally  in  the 
tool  post,  and  the  carriage 
is  moved  back  and  forth 
by  hand,  thus  planing  the 
teeth.  Spiral  knurls  are 
cut  in  a  similar  way  on  a 
universal  miller  having 
index  centers.  The  divid- 
ing head  is  geared  up  for 
the  correct  lead  of  the 
spiral,  and  a  single-point 
tool  shaped  to  the  angle  of  the  knurled  tooth  is  held  in 
a  fly-cutter  holder  such  as  is  illustrated  at  A  in  Fig.  6. 
For  ordinary  work  it  is  not  necessary  to  rotate  this  fly- 
cutter;  it  is  sufficient  to  hold  it  in  a  vertical  position  and 
plane  the  grooves  by  moving  the 'table  back  and  forth  by 
hand,  the  dividing  head  with  its  gears  taking  care  of  the 
angular  rotation  of  the  work.  When  cut  knurls  are 
required  in  quantities,  it  is  best  to  have  a  milling  cutter. 
Surfaces  formed  with  a  radius  may  be  knurled  as 
shown  at  A  and  B  in  Fig.  Y,  the  first  being  an  example 
of  convex  straight  and  the  second  of  spiral  convex 
knurling.  The  radius  of  the  rounding  on  a  concave 
knurl,  which  is  to  produce  a  pattern  on  convex  work 


X 

A 

PIG.   7.     PLAIN  AND  SPIRAL 
ROUND  KNURLING 


FIG.    8. 


ARRANGEMENT    FOR    CUTTING    CONCAVE 
AND 'CONVEX  MASTER  KNURLS 


of  this  kind,  must  be  slightly  greater  than  the  radius  of 
the  piece  to  be  knurled,  in  order  to  prevent  tearing  of 
the  work  at  the  corners  marked  X  in  the  illustration. 
A  knurl  for  work  of  this  sort  is  produced  on  a  simple 
swivel  tool-holding  device,  Fig.  8,  the  work  being 
mounted  on  an  index  center  and  the  single-point  tool 
being  swung  on  a  radius  across  the  face  of  the  knurled 
blank.  The  point  D  shows  the  position  of  the  pivot  in 
producing  a  convex  knurl,  and  E  shows  the  position  of  the 
pivot  when  making  a  concave  knurl.  Both  concave  and 


(21) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


convex  knurls  may  be  produced  on  the  same  device  by 
shifting  the  position  of  the  index  center  and  of  the  tool 
with  relation  to  the  pivot  pin. 

Spiral  convex  knurling,  such  as  shown  at  B,  gives  a 
very  pleasing  appearance,  but  requires  more  complicated 
arrangements  for  making  the  knurl.  The  universal 
miller  is  set  up  as 
for  the  straight- 
faced  spiral  knurl 
in  Fig.  6,  except 
that  the  tool  is 
placed  horizontally 
as  at  B.  A  templet 
is  provided  having 
a  radius  equal  to 
that  of  the  knurl, 
with  the  cross-feed, 
and  this  is  followed 
while  the  longitud- 
inal feed  produces 
the  spiral.  When  a 
knurl  is  required 
for  a  pattern  like 

that    in     Fig.     9,    in          FIG-  9-     HOLDER  AND  SPACING 

COLLARS  FOR  "BUILT-UP" 

which   the   diameter  KNURL 


of  the  various  knuirled  por- 
tions vary,  it  is  a  good  scheme 
to  make  a  "  built-up "  knurl 
with  one  roller  for  each  por- 
tion and  spacing  collars  be- 
tween. The  separate  knurls 
arc  thus  free  to  rotate  at  dif- 
ferent speeds  to  suit  the  di- 
ameter of  the  work.  Even  on 
work  of  one  diameter,  in 
which  three  or  four  spots  are 
to  be  knurled  in  this  way,  a 
built-up  knurl  will  often 
prove  a  good  investment,  as 
it  enables  the  pattern  to  be 
changed  and  a  broken  tooth 
does  not  cause  as  much  loss 
as  it  would  in  the  case  of  a 
solid  knurl.  There  is  a  vari- 
ety of  ways  to  knurl  in  the  hand  screw  machine  and 
automatics.  Sometimes  the  knurl  is  mounted  on  the  cross- 
slide  and  is  advanced  directly  in  the  work  on  the  center 
line,  as  illustrated  at  A,  Fig.  10,  feeding  in  to  the  depth 
of  the  tooth  and  remaining  a  moment  before  being  with- 
drawn. Another  plan  is  to  pass  the  knurl  under  the  work, 
as  at  Ji,  allowing  it  to  rest  a  moment  on  the  center  line 
so  that  the  tooth  impressions  become  fully  developed-.. 
Another  plan  makes  use  of  the  swinging  arm,  as  at  C, 
otherwise  being  similar  in  principle  to  A.  Knurling 


FIG.    10.      GENERAL  WAYS 
OF      KNURLING      ROUND 
STOCK  ON   SCREW  MA- 
CHINE   AND    AUTO- 
MATICS 


with  a  box  tool  having  roller  backrests  is  shown  at  B. 
The  knurl  E,  Fig.  10,  is  swung  in  toward  the  work] 
by  means  of  the  eccentric  F,  and  the  plain  rollers  G 
running  on  each  side  of  the  knurled  portion  serve  as 
backrests  and  balance  the  cut. 

In  connection  with  backresting,  the  location  of  the 
knurls  and  their  number  have  an  important  effect  on  the 
strain  produced  in  the  work.  The  most  common  arrange- 
ment is  illustrated  at  A,  two  knurls  being  held  against 
one  side  of  the  work,  resulting  in  a  heavy  unbalanced 
pressure.  When  one  knurl  is  placed  diametrically  oppo- 
site the  other  on  two  opposite  sides  of  the  shaft, 
conditions  are  much  better,  although  there  still  is  a 
tendency  for  the  rollers  to  ride  up  on  the  work  in  the 
direction  of  rotation.  The  scheme  shown  at  C  is  the  best 
of  all,  two  rollers  being  mounted  on  one  side  of  the  shaft 
and  one  on  the  other,  all  tendency  for  rollers  to  ride  up 
on  the  work  being  eliminated. 

Ornamental  knurling  is  an  art  not  often  practiced  in 
the  small  shop.  Artistic  results  can  be  obtained  by 
knurls  made  as  shown  in  Fig.  12,  of  which  the  result 
pictured  at  A  is  an  example.  The  first  step  is  to  put 
in  the  ground  lines,  which  consist  of  straight,  fine-tooth 
knurling  running  across  the  piece,  as  at  B.  Punches  are 


FIG.    11.      GOOD,   BETTER  AND  BEST   COMBINATIONS 

made  carrying  one  unit  of  the  figure,  such  as  shown  at 
C  and  D.  The  work  is  then  held  upon  the  arbor  of  an 
index  head,  as  at  E,  and  the  pattern  is  stamped  by  means 
of  a  hardened  punch  sliding  in  a  fixed  guide  H.  Doing 
this  work  by  hand  is  a  delicate  job,  requiring  a  great 
deal  of  skill  in  giving  the  blow  required  to  make  the 
impression.  A  better  way  is  to  rig  up  a  light  drop  that 
insures  the  same  weight  of  blow  for  each  repetition  of 
the  figure.  The  fine-ground  lines  at  B  are  not  put  in 
simply  for  ornamental  effect,  but  to  serve  the  purpose 
of  gearing  the  knurl  to  the  work.  They  are  quite 
necessary  on  ornamental  designs  of  this  kind,  which  are 
not  positively  driven,  but  in  which  the  knurl  depends 
for  its  rotation  and  registry  upon  its  contact  with  the 
work. 

Another  way  to  repeat  a  design  of  this  sort  is  by 
rolling.  A  hob  carrying  a  single  impression  is  applied 
to  the  work  by  gears  having  teeth  so  figured  that  the 
hob  is  brought  into  contact  with  the  surface  of  the  work 
at  a  different  place  each  revolution,  until  the  entire 
surface  has  been  covered  with  impressions.  For  example, 
if  40  impressions  are  desired  on  a  circumference,  these 
may  be  obtained  by  using  gears  having  40  and  39  teeth 
respectively,  the  former  connected  to  the  blank  and  the 
latter  to  the  hob. 

In  making  a  knurl,  use  tool  steel  having  a  carbon 
content  between  90  to  110  points.  Make  the  hole  for 
the  pin  on  which  the  knurl  is  to  rotate  small  in  diameter 


(22) 


KNURLING  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 


ON  THE  SPEED  LATHE 


IN  THE    SHAPER 


IN  THE  VISE  ON  THE  PRESS  OR  SLOTTEf?  ON  THE  CHUCKING  LATHE 

PIG.   17.     KNURLING  DONE  ON  ALL  THE  TOOLS  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 


(23) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


in  order  to  reduce  friction,  and  leave  a  collar  on  the 
side  of  the  knurl  for  the  same  purpose.  For  a  fancy 
knurl  of  complicated  design  it  is  best  to  use  nonshrink- 
ing  steel.  Harden  at  a  temperature  corresponding  to  its 
carbon  contents,  as  described  on  page  31,  applying  file 
cutters'  paste  to  the  knurl  before  heating.  This  is  made 
up  according  to  the  following  formula:  Pulverized 
charred  leather,  1  Ib. ;  fine  family  flour,  IVk  Ib. ;  table 


FIG.  12. 


ONE  METHOD  OF  PRODUCING  AN  ORNAMENTAL 
MASTER  KNURL 


salt,  2  Ib.  The  charred  leather  should  pass  through 
a  45-mesh  screen.  The  ingredients  of  this  paste  are 
mixed  dry,  after  which  water  is  added  slowly  and  it  is 
kneaded  to  prevent  lumps  from  forming.  It  is  used  at 
the  consistency  of  thin  molasses,  is  applied  to  the  knurl 
with  a  brush  and  allowed  to  dry  before  the  piece  is 
heated.  After  heating,  the  knurl  is  quenched  in  water  and 
then  drawn  to  a  color  between  dark  yellow  and  yellow 
brown. 

Some  20  years  ago  Edward  Board,  of  Philadelphia,, 
devised  the  triple  adjustable  knurl  seen  in  Fig.  13.  It 
combines  the  balance  of  forces  described  at  C ' ,  Fig.  11, 
and  has  the  good  feature  of  being  adjustable  into  the 


FIG.  13. 


ADJUSTABLE  TRIPLE  KNURL  FOR  HAND  OR 
LATHE   KNURLING 


bargain.  Mr.  Board  says  that  all  small-shop  owners  are 
welcome  to  this  idea,  which  is  not  patented,  and  which 
I  can  say  from  observation  is  a  mighty  good  one  for 
either  hand  or  tool-post  knurling. 

One  way  to  produce  spiral  knurling  is  shown  in  Fig. 
14.  In  this  case  a  straight  knurl  is  inclined  at  an  angle 
with  the  axis  of  the  work  and  fed  along  by  the  tool 
carriage.  This  scheme  is  especially  good  for  producing 
deep  spiral  knurling,  as  the  teeth  are  cut  to  their  full 
depth  at  the  center  of  the  knurl  and  there  is  no  tendency 


to  break  off  the  tooth  corners.  This  advantage  is  offset 
by  having  to  use  a  comparatively  slow  feed,  since  the 
band  produced  by  a  single  rotation  of  the  shaft  is  much 
narrower  than  would  be  produced  by  the  knurl  held 
parallel  with  the  axis,  as  is  clearly  indicated  at  A,  Fig. 
14. 

An    adaptation    of    this    principle    for    double    spiral 
knurling    is    given    in    Fig.    15.     In    this     case   we   have 


Special  Knurling 
with  a  Straight  Knurl 


fig. 16. 
'  Spring  Holder  For  Light  Knurling 

Eccentric  Work 
FIGS.  14,  15  AND  16.     SPECIAL  APPLICATIONS  OF  KNURLS 

two  straight  knurls,  both  of  them  mounted  and  held 
at  angles  to  the  axis  of  the  shaft  and  at  right  angles 
with  respect  to  each  other.  The  result  is  a  diamond 
knurling,  similar  to  that  which  would  be  made  with  a 
single  spiral  knurl  held  parallel  to  the  axis.  Deeper 
impressions  of  coarse  pitches  can  be  made  with  a  knurl 
of  this  kind  than  with  a  spiral  diamond  knurl. 

A  scheme  that  has  been  used  for  knurling  eccentrics 
is  illustrated  in  Fig.  16.  The  tools  are  kept  in  contact 
with  the  work  by  means  of  the  spring  A,  which  must 
be  sufficiently  stiff  to  force  the  knurls  into  the  work  before 
the  spring  yields. 

Sometimes  knurled  effects  are  produced  not  by  knurling, 
but  by  stamping.  An  illustration  of  this  is  seen  in  Fig. 


FIG.  17.      KNURLED  EFFECTS  ARE  PRODUCED 
BY   STAMPING 

17,   which  represents  the  roughening  of  one  of  a  pair  of 
plier  handles  by  this  simple  means. 

Although  there  is  as  a  rule  a  machine  best  fitted  for 
each  kind  of  work  to  be  done,  this  does  not  seem  to 
hold  true  when  it  comes  to  knurling.  The  illustrations 
in  Fig.  18  show  how  knurling  may  be  accomplished  in 
every  machine  usually  found  in  the  small  shop  and  also 
by  hand  in  the  vise.  If  all  work  was  subjected  to  such 
flexibility  of  handling,  the  small-shop  man's  trouble  would 
be  over I 


(24) 


Screw  Threads  in  Small  Shops 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  Every  shop  has  much  to  do  with 
screw  threads,  especially  in  their  broadest  appli- 
cation as  means  for  holding  machine  parts  to- 
gether. Many  shops  lose  money  through  not  being 
"on  to  the  curves"  of  the  simple  but  sometimes 
aggravating  machine  elements.  This  article  deals 
with  various  methods  of  screw  cutting  applicable 
to  small  shops. 

When  you  buy  a  suit  of  clothes,  you  do  not  give  a 
thought  to  the  unseen  thread  that  holds  the  pieces  of 
cloth  together.  But  let  this  unseen  thread  fail  to  do  its 
duty  in  some  important  seam,  and  it  becomes  to  you 
momentarily  the  most  important  thing  in  the  world ! 

There  is  a  close  analogy  between  threads  and  threads, 
as  applied  in  the  textile  and  mechanical  fields.  Both  of 
them  hold  things  together,  both  have  been  given  the  same 


PIG.    1. 


CUTTING   ONE    SIDE    OP   THE    THREAD    SPACE    IS 
BETTER  THAN  CUTTING  BOTH 


name;  and  take  either  away  from  its  field  of  application 
and  you  put  civilization  back  many  centuries. 

History  does  not  give  us  a  description  of  the  man  who 
first  cut  a  screw  thread,  so  we  are  at  a  loss  to  know 
whether  this  thread  was  cut  to  the  United  States  stand- 
ard, the  sharp  V-standard,  the  Whitworth  standard,  the 
British  Association  standard,  the  French  metric  standard, 
the  International  standard,  the  Lowenherz  standard,  the 
acme  standard,  the  Cadillac  standard,  the  square  stand- 
ard, the  Briggs  pipe  standard,  the  British  pipe  standard, 
the  hose  standard,  the  British  standard  fine  screw,  the 
Society  of  Automobile  Engineers  standard,  the  American 
Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  machine-screw  standard, 
the  old  standard  of  machine  screws,  the  gas-fixture 
standard  or  the  Cycle  Engineers  standard. 

Being  a  pioneer  has  its  advantages,  one  of  them  being 
that  you  do  not  have  such  a  conglomeration  of  established 
standards  to  worry  about  and  choose  from.  To  think  of 
the  brain  energy  that  has  followed  the  convolutions  of  all 
of  these  different  standard  screw  threads  makes  one  as 
dizzy  as  Mark  Twain's  "  drop  of  whiskey  running  down  a 
corkscrew."  Picture  to  yourself  the  numerous  conclaves 
of  the  wise  men  of  all  the  nations  necessary  to  establish 
such  an  unholy  medley  of-  standards,  the  fuming  ,and 
fussing  and  evaporation  of  brain  vapor  that  were  required 
to  invent,  establish  and  sort  these  57  varieties!  National 
societies  have  sat  in  discussion  upon  it,  universities  have 
deliberated  upon  it,  corporations  have  investigated  it,  and 
in  fact,  taken  all-in-all,  this  simple  mechanical  element 
has  had  almost  as  much  public  discussion  as  any  of  the 
"  big  "  issues  of  the  day. 

The  regrettable  thing  about  it  is  that  with  all  this 
thought,  talk  and  action,  while  we  have  standards  giving 
the  dimensions,  angles  and  proportions  of  screw  threads, 
with  a  few  exceptions  we  have  not  yet  had  laid  down  what 


is  more  important  for  the  shopman  —  the  limits  defining 
these  standards.  One  of  the  notable  exceptions  to  this  is 
the  A.  S.  M.  E.  standard  for  machine  screws,  which  has 
been  adopted  by  all  tap  and  die  makers. 

While  there  are  so  many  standards  to  choose  from,  the 
small-shop  man  need  not  be  in  a  dilemma  about  which 
one  to  take.  Outside  of  repair  jobs,  which  call  for  special 
threads,  nine-tenths  of  his  work  is  or  should  be  restricted 
to  the  II.  S.  standard,  and  the  other  one-tenth  which  will 
call  for  a  finer  pitch,  should  be  divided  between  the  A.  S. 
M.  E.  standard  for  machine  screws  for  diameters  under 
%  in.  and  the  S.  A.  E.  standard  for  the  fine-pitch  threads 
between  %  and  1  in.  There  is  no  excuse  for  making 
special  taps  in  the  small  shop,  and  the  policy  of  sticking  to 
these  established  standards  will  save  money. 

Do  not  attempt  to  hog  repair  business  by  using  a  special 
thread  standard  of  your  own,  for  nothing  makes  the  user 
of  a  machine  more  angry  than  to  find  that  some  screw 
that  has  been  lost  or  broken  is  a  special  one  and  must  be 
replaced  at  the  factory.  You  may  lose  a  cent  or  two  of 
profit  by  not  having  the  repair  order  come  to  you,  but  you 
are  likely  to  lose  the  customer's  business  if  you  adopt  such 
a  small  and  mean  policy.  And  by  all  means  steer  clear 
of  the  V-thread.  It  is  not  as  strong  as'  the  II.  S.  standard 
and  is  more  easily  damaged  on  account  of  its  sharp  edges. 
When  the  V-thread  and  the  II.  S.  standard  get  together  in 
a  shop,  trouble  begins,  especially  when  one  tries  to  use  a 
V-standard  screw  in  connection  with  a  II.  S.  standard 
nut.  Nothing  but  main  strength  and  the  compressibility 
of  metal  save  the  day  under  such  circumstances ! 

Before  speaking  of  the  accuracy  and  errors  of  screws,  it 
is  well  to  distinguish  between  the  two  main  purposes  for 


PIG.    2.     RIGGING   UP   TO   CUT   A   "QUICK"    LEAD   IN  THE 
LATHE 

which  they  are  used:  One  class  must  be  very  accurate 
indeed,  this  comprising  the  lead  screws,  dividing  screws 
and  the  like,  which  may  be  classed  as  "  precision  "  screws'. 
The  broader  application  as  fastenings,  comprising  bolts, 
studs,  nuts,  machine  screws  and  the  like,  while  they  do 
not  require  the  extreme  precision  of  these  former  screws, 
must  still  be  held  to  certain  dimensions  in  order  to  reduce 
the  shop  owner's  expense  and  the  shop  assembler's  pro- 
fanity, when  it  comes  to  putting  things  together. 


(25) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


In  screw  fastenings,  errors  of  lead  such  as  are  ordi- 
narily found  in  commercial  taps  and  dies  are  not  import- 
ant, since  the  thickness  of  the  tapped  piece  into  which 
the  screw  is  entered  is  ordinarily  not  greater  than  the 
diameter  of  the  screw  itself.  There  is  small  need  to 
worry  about  slight  errors  of  lead  on  this  class  of  work, 
especially  if  the  shop  owner  gives  his  taps  and  dies  an 
accurate  inspection  after  receiving  them. 

A  great  deal  of  tap  wear  and  breakage  can  be  eliminated 
from  both  small  and  large  shops  by  the  use  of  better  judg- 
ment in  the  selection  of  tap-drill  sizes.  Size  for  size  as 
compared  with  other  tools  the  tap  does  a  lot  of  work.  The 
length  of  cutting  edge  in  contact  with  the  work  in  any 
tap  is  considerable.  It  is  yanked  through  metal  by  main 
strength  or  driven  through  by  an  unfeeling  machine,  and 
in  either  case  the  cutting  edges  suffer  accordingly,  espe- 
cially if  the  tap  drill  is  small.  In  most  places  where  screw 
threads  are  used  for  fastening  pieces  together  the  maxi- 
mum strength  of  the  thread  is  not  required.  It  is  merely 
a  case  of  holding  one  piece  of  metal  to  another,  and  the 
strain  which  tends  to  separate  them  is  not  enough  to 
stress  the  screw  to  anywhere  near  its  safe  limit. 

Yet  under  these  conditions  you  will  find  no  distinction 
made  in  the  shop  as  to  the  size  of  the  tap  drill  used.  In 
many  such  cases  a  drill  is  selected  that  is  even  smaller 
than  the  root  diameter  of  the  thread,  which  means  that 
the  tap  must  do  the  work  of  a  reamer  as  well  as  its  own. 
It  has  been  shown  that  if  the  threads  in  a  nut  are  made 
but  50  per  cent,  of  the  full  depth  of  the  standard  thread, 
they  are  as  strong  as  the  bolt! 

TABLE  OP  TAP-DRILL  SIZES,  U.S.S. 

(For  thread  depths  equal  to  50,  75  and  90  per  cent,  of  full 
thread) 

Tap  Drill          Tap  Drill          Tap  Drill 
for  50  per        for  75  per        for  90  per 
Cent.  Depth    Cent.  Depth    Cent.  Depth 
i%4         No.  lit   Oie) 
%  D*    (%) 


Diameter 


%2 
J*0%4) 


2%4 
3%4 


as 


5%4 


«£ 


3%4 


?%4 


w 


No.  of 
Threads 

% 20 

$16 18 

% 16 

7/16 14 

% 13 

%'.  '.  '.    11 

Hie 11 

% 10  . 

1%6 10      ' 

% 9 

14ie  9 

1       S 

1  Vl6 

W,»'. '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.      7 
H4 7 

1%"'.  '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.      6 
1% 6 

ft::::::::::::  8* 

1% 5 

2       4% 

*  Letter-size  drill  ;  if  not  available,  use  size  given  in  paren- 
thesis, t  Wire-size  drill ;  if  not  available,  use  size  given  in 
parenthesis. 

The  relation  between  tap-drill  size  and  the  elbow  grease 
required  to  drive  a  tap  is  not  realized  until  you  have 
pulled  a  a^-in.  tap  through  3  or  4  in.  of  steel.  I  had  this 
experience  during  the  early  days  of  apprenticeship  at  a 
Middle  Western  tool  works.  The  job  was  given  to  the 
newest  apprentice,  with  the  idea  that  while  he  and  the 
shop  helper  were  pulling  their  lungs  out  at  opposite  ends 
of  a  double-end  tap  wrench  he  would  absorb  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  machine-tool  building,  which  in  those  days  was 
more  sweat  than  science.  Fortunately  the  pipe  shop  was 
not  far  removed,  and  more  fortunately  there  was  plenty 
of  room  all  around  the  casting  which  was  to  be  tapped,  so 
that,  before  long,  science  came  to  the  aid  with  two  14-ft. 
lengths  of  IV^-in.  pipe  that  reduced  the  pvdl  and  increased 
the  walk. 


But  even  so  it  was  a  slow  walk,  for  the  tap  had  been 
preceded  by  a  drill  that  was  scarcely  larger  than  the  root 
diameter  of  the  threads  and  it  took  close  to  a  day  and  a 
half  to  finish  what  might  have  been  accomplished  in  an 
hour  or  two  at  most  with  equally  good  results,  had  the 
hole  been  drilled  somewhat  larger.  Nothing  on  earth 
could  have  stripped  those  threads,  I  am  sure,  even  had 
they  been  half-threads  only,  for  that  steel  was  the  toughest 
material  that  ever  escaped  from  a  steel-foundry  scrap 
heap! 

The  table  of  tap-drill  sizes  given  here  will  enable  the 
small-shop  man  to  use  judgment  and  save  his  taps.  In  no 


FIG.  3. 


MILLING   THREADS    WITH   A   SINGLE   CUTTER 
AND  WITH  MULTIPLE  CUTTERS 


case  should  he  use  a  tap  drill  smaller  than  90  per  cent,  of 
the  depth  of  the  thread,  such  as  is  given  in  the  third 
column.  For  machine  tapping,  a  75  per  cent,  depth  is 
ample;  and  in  fact  if  the  hole  is  made  smaller,  tap 
breakage  will  be  a  considerable  item.  For  ordinary  screw 
fastenings  where  no  great  strain  or  pressure  is  brought 
against  the  parts,  50  per  cent,  of  depth  will  answer  the 
purpose  except  in  cast  iron.  The  speed  of  tapping  is 
largely  influenced  by  the  selection  of  the  tap-drill  size  and 
increases  much  faster  than  the  percentage  of  full  thread 
depth  decreases. 

Hand  tapping  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  very  expen- 
sive way  to  do  the  work;  in  fact,  it  should  be  regarded  as 
similar  to  the  crude  method  of  ratcheting  a  hole  instead  of 
machine  drilling  it.  Even  when  a  close  fit  is  desired,  the 
holes  should  first  be  machine  tapped  with  an  undersized 
tap  and  then  retapped  to  size  by  hand.  Eetapping  with 
a  sizing  tap  is  the  only  way  in  which  a  large  number  of 
tapped  holes  can  be  kept  to  a  close  standard  of  size,  as  has 


(26) 


SCREW  THREADS  IN  SMALL  SHOPS 


been  discovered  by  those  who  have  had  experience  in 
shell  work.  This  is  a  natural  thing  to  expect,  as  the  shop- 
man would  scarcely  think  of  using  any  other  form  tool 
but  a  tap  for  both  roughing  and  finishing  cuts,  with  the 
expectation  of  holding  size.  There  is  no  reason  why  this 
cutting  tool  should  be  an  exception  to  the  rule,  and  shop- 
men are  rapidly  finding  that  it  is  not. 

The  only  machine  tapper  available  in  small  shops  is 
quite  likely  to  be  the  drilling  machine.  Even  if  this  is  not 
fitted  with  reversing  gears,  a  tapping  chuck  can  be 
obtained  that  is  automatic  in  its  action  and  that  will  start 
to  back  the  tap  as  soon  as  the  feed  lever  is  raised.  These 
tapping  chucks  are  not  only  reliable,  but  are  time  savers, 
and  no  small  shop  can  afford  to  be  without  one.  When  the 
work  runs  in  large  quantities  of  one  or  two  tap  sizes,  it  is 
time  to  consider  a  tapping  machine.  Some  of  these  are 
very  simple  in  construction,  and  in  fact  one  of  the  most 
convenient  I  ever  saw  was 
a  home-made  affair  in 
which  a  horizontal  spindle 
was  controlled  by  two  fric- 
tion gears,  the  tap  going 
into  the  work  when  the 
operator  pushed  the  piece 
against  it  and  backing 
out  with  a  fast  reverse 
motion  when  he  started  to 
pull.  A  contrivance  of 
this  kind  will  tap  an  al- 
most incredible  number  of 
holes  without  getting  stiff 
in  the  joints,  which  is  more 
than  can  be  said  for  the 
average  vise  hand.  Proba- 
bly 90  per  cent,  of  the 
screws  used  in  the  small 
shops  are  die  cut.  Like  all 
female  threads,  those  in 
dies  are  infernally  hard 
to  measure.  The  best  test 
of  the  die  is  the  work  that 
it  does;  and  its  offspring 
being  all  of  the  male  gender,  one  can  readily  measure 
and  inspect  them. 

All  threads  come  originally  from  the  King  of  Machines, 
the  engine  lathe.  One  of  the  best  kinks  in  cutting  threads 
on  a  lathe  with  a  single  tool  is  that  attributed  to  Professor 
Sweet,  in  which  the  compound  rest  is  swiveled  30  deg., 
so  that  instead  of  feeding  directly  into  the  work  and  cut- 
ting on  both  sides  of  the  thread  the  tool  has  a  one-sided 
cut,  as  shown  in  Fig.  1.  This  scheme  prevents  torn 
threads  and  is  not  as  widely  used  as  it  should  be. 

SCREW  CUTTING  ON  THE  LATHE 

While  the  lathe  has  the  ability  to  develop  a  thread 
through  its  lead  screw  by  means  of  a  single-pointed  tool, 
it  is  not  by  any  means  restricted  to  such  high-grade  but 
expensive  kind  of  work.  It  will  carry  either  a  tap  or  a 
die  and  thus  transform  itself  without  protest  into  a  tap- 
ping machine  or  a  bolt  cutter.  And  speaking  of  bolt  cut- 
ters, some  very  pretty  screw  threads  are  produced  on  these 
machines,  which  are  sometimes  considered  to  be  crude. 
Their  work  is  not  by  any  means  restricted  to  threading 
rough  bolts,  however,  and  they  can  be  applied  for  short 
feed  screws  such  as  are  used  in  blacksmith  drills  and  the 

(2 


FIG.  4.     THREADING  WITH  A 
LEADER  ON  THE  DRILL- 
ING   MACHINE 


like,  where  the  exact  lead  need  not  be  held  to  close  limits. 
A  bolt  cutter  will  produce  just  as  finely  finished  threads 
as  a  screw  machine,  for  in  both  cases  the  quality  pf  "the 
work  and  the  lead  depend  upon  the  die,  the  machine  simply 
being  the  means  of  making  things  go  around  and  important 
mainly  for  driving  power. 

When  the  small-shop  man  gets  up  to  leads  of  l1/^  in. 
or  over,  he  begins  to  have  trouble  with  the  feed  works  of 
his  lathe.  Such  leads  are  not  common  on  screw  threads 
pure  and  simple,  but  are  not  infrequent  on  its  close 
cousin,  the  worm,  and  on  some  multi-thread  screws.  In 
such  cases  change  gears  can  be  saved  from  breaking  and 
the  job  may  be  made  easier  by  rigging  up  as  shown  in 
Fig.  2,  on  the  principle  that  there  is  always  less  strain 
involved  in  slowing  down  than  in  speeding  up. 

ACCURATE  SCREWS  ON  THE  THREAD  MILLER 

Since  the  advent  of  the  thread  miller,  the  lathe  with  its 
single-point  tool  is  not  the  only  machine  which  can  pro- 
duce accurate  screws.  A  positive  lead  is  used  in  this 
milling  process,  the  accuracy  of  the  product,  as  far  as  lead 
is  concerned,  depending  upon  the  accuracy  of  the  miller 
lead  screw,  just  as  it  does  on  the  lead  screw  in  lathe  work. 
The  thread  miller  has  another  advantage  in  being  a  semi- 
automatic machine  and  thus  slicing  off  a  large  portion  of 
the  labor  required  to  cut  a  screw.  While  a  specialized 
machine  of  this  type  is  possibly  outside  the  range  of  most 
small  shops,  adaptations  of  the  milling  process  are  not. 
Some  of  these  are  shown  in  Fig.  3. 

At  A  is  an  attachment  rigged  up  on  a  plain  miller  of 
the  knee  and  column  type.  The  cutter  is  a  plain  grooved 
cutter  and  has  no  lead.  The  length  of  the  cutter  is  equal 
to  the  length  of  the  thread  desired  on  the  work,  which 
is  held  in  a  fixture  having  a  master  screw  of  the  same 
pitch  as  the  cutter.  One  rotation  of  the  work  mills  the 
entire  length  of  thread  and  does  it  in  about  one-tenth  the 
time  that  is  required  by  any  other  method.  This  is  a 
scheme  that  has  been  largely  applied  to  milling  internal 
threads  in  the  base  recesses  of  high-explosive  shells  where 
there  is  not  room  enough  for  a  tap  to  clear,  the  recess 
at  the  bottom  of  the  thread  being  just  about  equal  to  the 
width  of  one  thread.  This  is  shown  at  B  in  Fig.  3. 

MILLING  THREADS  WITH  A  SINGLE  CUTTER 

It  is  not  necessary  to  mill  threads  with  a  multiple- 
cutter,  for  they  can  be  handled  as  shown  at  C,  in  which 
a  cutter  is  used  having  the  form  of  a  single  tooth  space. 
The  work  is  held  and  moved  as  in  the  previous  case.  This 
is  the  principle  employed  in  thread  milling,  except  that 
the  cutter  is  moved  instead  of  the  work.  A  more  accurate 
thread  can  be  produced  by  a  single  cutter  than  by  a  mul-  ' 
tiple  cutter,  owing  to  the  changes  in  form  and  pitch  which 
the  latter  undergoes  in  hardening.  Any  one  of  these  three 
schemes  may  come  in  handy  in  a  small  shop  when  there 
is  a  quantity  of  work  to  be  done  at  low  cost  and  yet  at 
a  profit. 

Even  the  vertical  drilling  machine  may  be  made  to  cut 
a  thread  with  positive  lead  and  a  single-pointed  tool  if  it 
is  rigged  up  as  shown  in  Fig.  4.  There  are  some  jobs  too 
large  to  be  swung  on  a  lathe,  which  may  be  handled  this 
way  to  advantage,  although  to  be  sure  it  is  a  slow  and 
clumsy  way  to  do  the  work.  Sometimes  slow  ways  are  the 
only  ways,  however,  and  this  kink  should  be  stored  away 
in  the  small-shop  man's  mind  for  use  on  an  occasion  of 
that  kind. 


Measuring  Screw  Threads  in  the  Small  Shop 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVEXTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  Measuring  screw  threads  is  a  task 
that  is  undertaken  with  uncertainty  in  many  shops. 
Sing  and  plug  screw  gages  are  commonly  used,  but 
do  not  always  throw  true  light  on  the  existing 
errors.  This  article  tells  how  the  small-shop  man 
can  measure  threads  with  certainty,  and  also  points 
out  the  sources  of  error  to  be  looked  for. 

Casey  was  a  good  Irishman  and  a  better  mechanic,  and 
was  disgusted  with  the  loss  of  time  in  his  shop  when  it 
came  to  fitting  screw  threads.  There  were  a  good  many 
studs  to  drive,  and  it  was  always  a  matter  of  sort  and  try 
to  find  those  which  would  go  in  with  the  proper  amount 
of  pull.  Some  of  them  would  fall  in  like  a  shot  in  a 
barrel  and  others  would  not  even  enter  the  hole.  So  Casey 
rigged  up  a  block  as  shown  in  Fig.  1  in  order  that  he 


FIG.    1.     THE    OLD    METHOD    OF    TRYING    A    SCREW    IN   A 
STANDARD  HOLE  STILL  ANSWERS 


FI.G  2.     CRUDE  AS  IT  IS,  THE  SCREW  PLUG  SEEMS  TO 
HAVE  A   MONOPOLY   ON   THREADED   HOLES 

might  establish  a  standard.  He  succeeded  in  having  his 
screws  made  to  fit  the  block,  but  found  that  tapmakers 
seemed  to  have  a  difference  of  opinion  regarding  the  size 
of  a  half  inch.  "  Begorry,"  said  Casey,  "  what  an  argu- 
ment them  fellows  would  have  about  the  diameter  of  the 
earth  if  they've  got  such  a  difference  of  opinion  on  a  half 
inch !  " 

This  variance  in  the  sizes  of  taps  exists  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  learned  bodies  mentioned  in  the  article  on 
page  25,  when  establishing  the  various  screw  thread 
standards,  did  not  complete  their  job  and  also  establish  a 


set  of  maximum  and  minimum  limits  on  them.  But  the 
matter 'of  importance  and  interest  is  not  what  these  gen- 
tlemen did  not  do  but  what  the  small-shop  man  must  do 
in  order  to  be  sure  that  threads  will  fit  the  holes  for  which 
they  are  intended. 

There  are  twelve  errors  which  may  creep  into  the  thread 
of  a  nut  and  there  are  twelve  similar  errors  which  may 
creep  into  the  threads  of  a  screw,  so  all  together  we  have 
twenty-four  reasons  why  one  will  not  fit  the  other.  These, 
for  the  sake  of  clearness,  are  arranged  in  the  accompany- 
ing table. 

Making  the  outside  and  root  diameter  of  a  screw  too 
small  will  not  affect  the  fit  unless  these  errors  are  exces- 


FIG.   3.     THE   RIGHT  PITCH,   BUT   THE   WRONG  THREAD 
ANGLE   FOR  A   PERFECT  FIT 


FIG.   4.     THE  SCREW  TOO  SMALL,  BUT  BINDING  IN  THE 
LEAD,    SO    THE   CONTACT    IS   LIMITED 

sive.  Conversely,  making  the  root  and  outside  diameters 
of  a  nut  too  -large  often  helps  things  instead  of  harming 
them.  When  the  reverse  is  true,  however,  and  the  outside 
diameter  of  a  screw  is  larger  than  the  root  diameter  of 
the  nut,  there  is  trouble.  This  is  usually  what  is  encoun- 
tered when  one  tries  to  screw  a  V-thread  into  a  TJ.  S.  S. 
nut  The  way  to  overcome  this  difficulty  is  to  keep  the 
V  standard  out  of  the  shop.  Sometimes  the  wrong  thread 
angle  on  either  screw  or  nut  makes  a  defective  fit  which 
cannot  be  noticed  because  the  pitch  happens  to  be  right. 
A  case  of  this  kind  is  shown  in  Fig.  3,  where  there  is 


(28) 


MEASURING  SCREW  THREADS  IN  THE  SMALL  SHOP 


contact  at  the  extreme  corners  of  the  threads  and  conse- 
quently no  shape  but  a  very  poor  fit.  Another  poor  fit  is 
shown  in  Fig.  4,  in  which  the  lead  is  stretched,  apparently 
making  a  tight  driving  fit,  but  in  reality  having  contact 
only  on  the  surfaces  of  two  or  three  threads. 

Sometimes    the   pitch    of    both    nut   and    screw   may   be 
right,  the  lead  right,  the  angle  right,  the  outside  and  root 

ERRORS   IN   THREADED  WORK 

Diameter    (outside)    ..................  }  £00  J^ff, 

Diameter   (pitch)    ....................  ,(T,oo  j^ge 

Diameter    (root)     .....................  )  ?oo  Lmafl 

Angle  of  thread    .....................  {££  Jgg 


Pitch  of  threads 

Lead  —  Not  uniform 
Burrs  and  bruises 


diameters  right,  but  everything  all  wrong  nevertheless. 
This  is  because  of  the  vital  dimension,  which  cannot  be 
seen  and  which  is  hard  to  measure,  which  is  known  as  the 


FIG.   5.     SOME  VARIATIONS  IN  DIAMETER  ARE  HARMLESS 


FIG.  6.     THE  PITCH  RIGHT.  THE  LEAD  RIGHT,  THE  ANGLE 
RIGHT  — BUT    ALL   WRONG,    NEVERTHELESS 


FIG.  7.     TESTING  THE  LEAD  WITH  A  SCREW  PITCH  GAGE 

pitch  diameter.  A  case  of  this  kind  is  illustrated  in  Fig. 
6  and  would  give  a  very  shaky  fit,  while  an  error  of  the 
opposite  kind  in  which  the  threads  of  the  screw  were  too 
thick  would  make  it  impossible  to  enter  the  screw.  For- 
tunately for  most  small-shop  purposes,  it  is  safe  to  assume 
that  the  angles  of  threads  on  purchased  taps  and  dies  are 
correct.  Also  for  this  class  of  work  it  is  quite  possible 
to  test  the  lead  of  a  screw  by  means  of  a  gage  such  as 
shown  in  Fig.  7.  These  gages  run  from  2  to  4  in.  in 
length,  depending  on  the  fineness  of  the  pitch,  and  a  little 
experience  will  make  the  shop  man  an  expert  in  their  use. 

Limit  thread  gages  for  testing  pitch  diameters  form  a 
means  of  inspection  that  is  absolutely  decisive.  These  are 
used  on  precision  work,  but  an  individual  gage  is  required 
for  each  diameter  and  pitch,  which  usually  limits  their 
application  to  shops  in  which  a  large  quantity  of  pieces 


having  a  limited  number  of  thread  sizes  are  handled.  For 
average  small-shop  requirements,  which  will  not  call  for 
measuring  every  screw  used,  three  methods  of  measuring 
pitch  diameter  are  available  —  the  thread  micrometer,  the 
ball-point  micrometers  and  the  two-  and  three-wire  .sys- 
tems. The  latter  can  be  used  with  an  ordinary  pair  of 
mikes  such  as  will  be  found  in  every  small  shop,  and  will 


FIG.    8. 


LIMIT    THREAD    GAGES    FOR   TESTING    PITCH 
DIAMETER 


FIG.   9.     MEASURING  THREADS  BY  THE  TWO-  AND 
THREE-WIRE  SYSTEMS 


FIG.    10.     TESTING    A    TAP    FOR    WARP    BETWEEN    LATHE 
CENTERS 

give  as  accurate  results  as  any  method  of  measurement 
although  a  little  slower  than  the  special  micrometers  made 
for  this  purpose.  The  method  of  using  the  two-  and  three- 
wire  systems  is  indicated  in  Fig.  9.  Wires  are  taken  of 
proper  size  and  measurement  made  across  their  outside 
diameters  when  laid  in  opposite  thread  spaces.  The 
micrometer  readings  are  compared  with  a  table  which  gives 
the  reading  in  terms  of  pitch  diameter.  Tables  for  this 
purpose  for  all  of  the  standard  threads  can  be  found  in 
the  "  American  Machinist  Handbook,"  pages  30  to  40. 


(29) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


While  the  thread  angles  on  taps  may  be  assumed  to  be 
correct,  there  are  other  things  which  it  would  be  well  to 
check  up  as  soon  as  the  taps  come  into  the  shop.  A  set 
of  inspections  for  checking  up  taps  are  illustrated  in  Figs. 
10  to  13.  The  first  illustration  shows  a  tap  placed  between 
lathe  centers  and  being  tested  for  warp  and  eccen- 
tricity due  to  distortion  in  hardening.  Fig.  11  shows  the 


PIG.    11.     COMPARING   THE    LEAD   OF   A   TAP   WITH   THAT 
OF  THE  LATHE  LEAD  SCREW 


FIG.    12.     MEASURING   THE    OUTSIDE    DIAMETER    OF    THE 
TAP  TO   INSURE  A  FULL  ROOT   DIAMETER 

means  of  comparing  the  lead  of  a  tap  with  that  of  the 
lathe  lead  screw,  which  will  indicate  an  error  in  the  tap 
provided  the  lathe  screw  itself  is  accurate.  An  indicator 
is  held  in  the  tool  post  with  its  needle  against  one  side 
of  the  tap  face,  the  lead  screw  is  engaged,  the  operator 
turns  the  belt  by  hand  and  eases  off  on  the  indicator 
needle  from  space  to  space,  observing  any  fluctuation  as 
the  needle  comes  to  rest  on  successive  flutes.  If  the  tap 
lead  is  right  and  the  lathe  screw  lead  is  right,  there  should 
be  no  variation  on  the  indicator. 

The  outside  diameter  of  the  tap  must  be  large  enough  to 
insure  a  full  root  diameter  of  the  tapped  hole.  This  is 
measured,  with  a  pair  of  "  mikes "  as  shown  in  Fig.  12. 
The  final  test  is  that  of  the  pitch  diameter,  which  is  made 
as  shown  in  Fig.  13,  and  which  has  been  explained  in  the 
description  of  the  three-wire  system.  If  a  tap  passes  these 


four  inspections  satisfactorily,  it  is  a  pretty  good  tool  as 
far  as  accuracy  is  concerned.  To  insure  that  the  bolts, 
screws  and  studs  that  are  purchased  outside  will  fit  prop- 
erly into  threads  made 'with  such  a  tap,  it  is  advisable  to 
inspect  one  or  two  of  such  studs,  bolts  or  screws  in  every 
one  hundred  by  means  of  running  them  into  a  block  such 
as  shown  in  Fig.  1.  This,  called  selective  inspection,  will 
call  attention  to  batches  of  screws  which  are  running  over 
or  under  size,  in  which  case  a  further  inspection  of  each 
screw  in  that  batch  may  be  made  if  desired  before  return- 
ing them  to  the  maker.  It  is  advisable  for  the  small-shop 
man  to  protect  himself  in  buying  such  screws  by  submit- 
ting a  similar  gage  at  the  time  that  he  gives  the  order. 

Dies  are  best  inspected  by  examining  the  work  that 
comes  from  them.  Do  not,  however,  make  the  mistake 
as  did  one  small-shop  man  of  testing  an  adjustable  die 


FIG. 


MEASURING    THE    PITCH    DIAMETER    WITH 
"  MIKES  "  AND  WIRES 


with  stock  that  was  larger  than  that  intended  for  the 
chasers  that  were  used.  The  chasers  were  supposed  to  cut 
twelve  threads  to  the  inch,  but  after  the  work  came  out  of 
the  die  he  could  find  but  thirty-five  threads  in  3  in.  One 
of  them  had  disappeared  mysteriously,  and  he  is  still  hunt- 
ing for  it ! 

Lifting  the  Shaper  Chuck 

BY  G.  A.  REMY 

The  vise,  or  chuck,  on  large  shapers  is  heavy  and,  owing 
to  its  form,  difficult  to  lift  and  place  in  position  on  the 
shaper  table.  Recently  I  saw  three  men  put  a  large 
chuck  in  position  without  trouble,  in  the  following 
manner : 

Before  the  chuck  was  removed  from  the  shaper,  a  piece 
of  iron  pipe  was  clamped  between  the  vise  jaws,  the 
ends  of  the  pipe  protruding  from  the  chuck  far  enough 
to  furnish  a  grip.  A  man  on  each  side  lifted  the  chuck 
and,  thanks  to  the  pipe,  easily  held  it  in  position  over 
the  table  while  a  third  man  inserted  the  binding  bolts 
and  wiped  away  any  chips  that  had  fallen  from  the  chuck 
to  the  table. 

This  is  a  simple  method,  but  one  not  generally  prac- 
ticed. Besides  avoiding  the  strain  on  the  men  in  lifting, 
the  machine  is  saved  many  hard  knocks,  which  generally 
result  when  the  men  lifting  the  chuck  have  a  poor  grip. 
This  idea  is  not  original  with  me.  I  have  seen  it  used  by 
shaper  hands. 


(30) 


Hardening  and  Softening  Steels  in  the  Small 

Shop 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS— This  article  throws  light  on  some 
right  and  some  wrong  ways  to  harden  and  anneal 
carbon  and  high-speed  steels.  The  use  of  lead  balhs, 
cyanide  of  potassium  and  various  quenching  com- 
positions is  treated  in  detail. 

To  take  his  diploma  as  an  all-round  small-shop  machin- 
ist, a  man  must,  in  addition  to  many  other  requirements, 
be  a  fair  blacksmith  and  a  first-class  tool  hardener. 
The  average  small-shop  owner  cannot  afford  such  a  luxury 
as  a  tool  specialist  and  may  perhaps  consider  himself 
lucky  that  he  cannot.  The  idea  of  specialization  has  been 
carried  too  far.  If  specialization  were  the  real  and  ulti- 
mate object  of  man,  we  should  be  built  differently.  Some 
of  us  would  have  nothing  but  noses  —  we  should  do  the 
smelling  for  the  community;  others  would  be  exclusive 
specialists  at  seeing,  and  others  at  hearing.  As  it  is,  we 
are  all  constructed  very  much  alike  and  evidently  intended 
by  nature  to  do  many  things  well,  although  the  teachings 
of  the  "  superspecialists "  would  make  us  believe  to  the 
contrary. 

Judging  by  the  number  of  inquiries  received  by  the 
American  Machinist  for  information,  the  hardening  and 
annealing  of  steels  is  a  matter  that  is  worth  presenting 
to  small-shop  readers.  Like  a  good  many  other  subjects, 
different  parts  of  it  have  been  presented  from  time  to 
time,  dispersed  over  a  number  of  volumes  and  a  number 
of  issues  —  each  one  bearing  its  share  of  information.  In 
one  or  two  articles  on  this  subject  I  will  try  to  gather 
together  the  most  important  things  to  be  known  and  done 
in  connection  with  hardening  and  annealing,  especially 
from  the  viewpoint  of  practicability  for  use  in  the  small 
shop. 

METHODS  OF  HEATING  FOR  HARDENING  AND  TEMPERING 

The  various  ways  of  heating  steels  group  themselves 
into  three  distinct  divisions :  First,  in  the  open  fire,  in 
which  the  piece  to  be  heated  is  exposed  directly  to  the 
fuel.  This  scheme,  the  oldest,  the  best  known  and  the 
commonest,  is  the  one  followed  in  ninety-nine  shops  out  of 
a  hundred.  The  blacksmith  forge  as  a  hardening  and  tem- 
pering appliance  is  as  well  known  in  the  large  shop  as  in 
the  small  one,  and  provided  care  is  taken  to  use  fuel  free 
from  sulphur  and  phosphorus  and  to  build  the  fire  deep 
enough  so  that  the  heated  metal  is  not  exposed  to  the 
direct  blast,  good  results  can  be  obtained.  In  using  the 
open  fire  the  degree  of  heat  must  be  gaged  by  color, 
which  is  a  disadvantage  of  this  method  of  heating.  While 
it  may  give  best  results  some  of  the  time  and  good  results 
most  of  the  time,  it  will  not  give  best  results  all  of  the 
time,  such  as  are  assured  when  the  degree  of  heat  can  be 
accurately  measured  and  controlled. 

The  second  classification  of  heating  devices  may  be 
described  as  closed  retorts  or  furnaces,  in  which  the  piece 
is  protected  not  only  from  drafts,  but  also  from  attacks 
by  the  gases  and  chemical  elements  in  the  fuel.  The  size 
of  such  an  outfit  may  vary  from  a  muffle  capable  of  being 
juggled  about  in  one  hand  to  a  gigantic  furnace.  When 


a  furnace  of  this  type  is  fired  by  oil  or  gas  and  is  provided 
with  a  pyrometer,  such  as  described  on  page  38,  the  heat 
may  be  closely  regulated.  I  must  not  forget  to  mention 
in  this  class  the  electrically  heated  furnace,  which  is  no 
doubt  the  most  accurately  controlled  of  any  and  which 
is  largely  used  by  makers  of  high-grade  small  tools  as  a 
means  of  heating  their  product. 

HEATING  THE  WORK  IN  A  HOT  BATH 

The  third  class  of  heating  appliances  may  be  indexed 
under  the  name  "  Bath,"  although  quite  different  from 
the  Saturday  night  bath  of  the  small-shop  man.  It  may 
consist  of  a  pot  of  melted  lead,  of  melted  salt,  of  potas- 
sium cyanide,  of  sand  or  of  heavy  oil.  These  are  of 
course  hot  baths,  as  distinguished  from  the  quenching  or 
cooling  baths,  which  will  be  mentioned  later.  The  advan- 
tages of  a  bath  of  this  kind  are  easily  obtained  in  the  small 
shop  by  placing  upon  the  forge  a  crucible  or  an  iron  ket- 
tle containing  the  bath  material.  A  better  way  to  heat  it 
and  one  that  allows  for  regulation  is  by  means  of  a  gas 
or  crude-oil  burner. 

The  reason  for  uniformity  of  temperature  in  harden- 
ing steels  may  not  be  fully  understood;  and  when  not, 
it  is  difficult  for  one  to  realize  the  importance  of  main- 
taining a  uniform  temperature.  In  its  action,  when  heated, 
steel  somewhat  resembles  water.  Just  as  heated  water 
reaches  a  point  where  it  boils  and  changes  into  steam, 
steel  heated  sufficiently  reaches  a  point  where  its  particles 
are  changed  in  their  nature  and  relation.  On  being  cooled 
to  a  temperature  a  little  lower  than  the  first  the  particles 
will  change  back  again. 

These  temperatures  are  called  the  "  critical  points "  of 
the  steel  and  vary  with  different  percentages  of  carbon. 
The  proper  hardening  temperature  is  from  30  to  50  deg. 
above  the  first  critical  point.  The  ideal  temperature  would 
be  exactly  at  this  point,  but  allowance  must  be  thus  made 
for  cooling  in  the  interval  of  time  before  quenching.  A 
table  showing  these  temperatures  is  given  for  various  per- 
centages of  carbon,  and  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  higher 
the  carbon  of  the  steel  the  lower  this  critical  temperature 
becomes. 

Steel  has  a  peculiar  property  of  losing  its  power  of 
attracting  a  magnet  when  the  critical  point  is  reached,  and 
this  fact  is  taken  advantage  of  by  some  small-shop  owners 
who  do  not  have  pyrometers.  A  magnetic  compass  is 
applied  to  the  piece  of  heated  steel;  and  when  the  needle 
ceases  to  be  attracted  by  it,  the  shop  man  knows  that  the 
critical  point  has  been  reached. 

HARDENING  AND  ANNEALING  TEMPERATURES  FOR 
CARBON  STEELS 


Per  cent.  Carbon 
0.10 
0.20 
0.30 
0.40 
0.50 
0.60 
0.70 
0.80  to  1.5 


"  Points  " 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

•  60 

70 

80  to  150 


Deg.  F. 
1,616 
1.'562 
1.535 
1.508 
1,492 
1,481 
1.476 
1.472 


The  nearer  to  the  critical  point  that  the  small-shop 
man  is  able  to  quench  a  piece  of  steel,  the  finer  will  be 
its  grain.  Its  hardness  and  toughness  will  also  reach  a 


(31) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


maximum  under  these  conditions.  Over  and  under  this 
point  the  grains  become  gradually  coarser,  and  the  hard- 
ness decreases. 

One  thing  to  remember  in  heating  steels  for  harden- 
ing is  to  keep  the  temperature  "  going  up  "  until  the  crit- 
ical point  is  reached.  In  other  words,  it  will  not  do 
to  go  above  this  point  and  let  the  temperature  drop  before 
quenching.  Apparently  it  is  necessary  to  keep  the  tem- 
perature moving  in  one  direction,  in  order  not  to  impede 
traffic  among  the  busy  molecules  of  the  heated  bar.  While 
this  is  true,  it  is  equally  true  that  fast  heating  must  be 
avoided.  A  piece  of  steel  is  often  heated  so  quickly  that 
the  outside  only  is  in  its  proper  critical  condition. 

Every  mechanic  who  has  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
hardening  of  tools  knows  how  necessary  it  is  to  take  a 
cut  from  the  surface  of  the  bar  that  is  to  be  hardened. 
The  reason  is  that  in  the  process  of  making  the  steel  its 
outer  surface  has  become  decarbonized.  This  change  makes 
it  low-carbon  steel,  which  will  of  course  not  harden.  It 
is  necessary  to  remove  from  %e  to  %  in.  of  diameter  on 
bars  ranging  from  i/2  to  4  in. 

This  same  decarbonization  occurs  if  the  steel  is  placed 
in  the  forge  in  such  a  way  that  unburned  oxygen  from 
the  blast  can  get  at  it.  The  carbon  is  oxidized,  or  burned 
out,  converting  the  outside  of  the  steel  into  low-carbon 
steel.  The  way  to  avoid  this  catastrophe  is  to  use  a 
deep  fire.  Lack  of  this  precaution  is  the  cause  of  much 
spoiled  work,  not  only  because  of  decarbonization  of  the 
outer  surface  of  the  metal,  but  because  the  cold  blast  strik- 
ing the  hot  steel  acts  like  boiling  hot  water  poured  into 
an  ice-cold  glass  tumbler.  The  contraction  sets  up  stresses 
that  result  in  cracks  when  the  piece  is  quenched.  The 
next  time  you  harden  a  milling  cutter  and  have  some  'of 
the  teeth  crack  off,  keep  this  suggestion  in  mind. 

PREVENTING  DECABBONIZATION  OF  TAPS  AND  REAMERS 

It  is  especially  important  to  prevent  decarbonization  in 
such  tools  as  taps  and  form  cutters,  which  must  keep 
their  shape  after  hardening  and  which  cannot  be  ground 
away  on  the  profile.  For  this  reason  it  is  well  to  put 
taps,  reamers  and  the  like  into  pieces  of  pipe  in  heating 
them.  The  pipe  need  be  closed  on  one  end  only,  as  the 
air  will  not  circulate  readily  unless  there  is  an  opening  at 
both  ends  for  a  "  draft,"  so  to  speak. 

Even  if  used  in  connection  with  a  blacksmiths'  forge 
the  lead  bath  has  an  advantage  for  heating  tools  of  com- 
plicated shapes,  since  it  is  easier  to  heat  them  uniformly 
and  they  are  submerged  and  away  from  the  air.  You  must 
remember,  however,  that  unless  the  metal  is  stirred,  the 
temperature  of  such  a  bath  is  not  uniform.  And  always 
remember  to  use  powdered  charcoal  as  a  covering  for  the 
top  of  the  lead  pot.  Some  may  ask  why  it  is  necessary 
to  repeat  such  a  simple  precaution,  but  a  prominent  firm 
making  shrapnel  incurred  much  expense  for  wasted  lead 
until  someone  suggested  the  use  of  charcoal.  A  lead 
bath  may  be  used  at  temperatures  between  620  and  1,150 
deg.  F.  Beyond  this  there  will  be  much  waste  by  evap- 
oration, i 

To  secure  proper  hardness,  the  cooling  or  quenching  of 
steel  is  as  important  as  its  heating.  Quenching  baths 
vary  in  nature,  there  being  a  large  mimber  of  ways  to  cool 
a  piece  of  steel  in  contrast  to  the  comparatively  few  ways 
of  heating  it. 

Plain  water,  brine  and  oil  are  the  three  most  common 
quenching  materials.  Of  these  three  the  brine  will  give 


the  most  hardness,  and  plain  water  and  oil  come  next. 
The  colder  that  any  of  these  baths  is  when  the  piece  is 
put  into  it  the  harder  will  be  the  steel;  but  this  does  not 
mean  that  it  is  a  good  plan  to  dip  the  heated  steel  into  a 
tank  of  ice  water,  for  the  shock  would  be  so  great  that 
the  bar  would  probably  fly  to  pieces.  In  fact,  the  quench- 
ing bath  must  be  sometimes  heated  a  bit  to  take  off  the 
edge  of  the  shock. 

Brine  solutions  will  work  uniformly,  or  give  the  same 
degree  of  hardness,  until  they  reach  a  temperature  of  150 
deg.  F.,  above  which  their  grip  relaxes  and  the  metals 
quenched  in  them  become  softer.  Plain  water  holds  its 
grip  up  to  a  temperature  of  approximately  100  deg.  F. ; 
but  oil  baths,  which  are  used  to  secure  a  slower  rate  of 
cooling,  may  be  used  up  to  500  deg.  or  more.  A  compro- 
mise is  sometimes  effected  by  using  a  bath  consisting  of 
an  inch  or  two  of  oil  floating  on  the  surface  of  water. 
As  the  hot  steel  passes  through  the  oil,  the  shock  is  not  as 
severe  as  if  it  were  to  be  thrust  directly  into  the  water; 
and  in  addition,  oil  adheres  to  the  tool  and  keeps  the  water 
from  direct  contact  with  the  metal. 

The  old  idea  that  mercury  will  harden  steel  more  than 
any  other  quenching  material  has  been  exploded.  A 
bath  consisting  of  melted  cyanide  of  potassium  is  useful 
for  heating  fine  engraved  dies  and  other  articles  that  are 
required  to  come  out  free  from  scale.  One  must  be  care- 
ful to  provide  a  hood  or  exhaust  system  to  get  rid  of  the 
deadly  fumes  coming  from  the  cyanide  pot. 

EASING  OFF  THE  INTERNAL  STRESSES 

Work  quenched  from  a  high  temperature  and  not  after- 
ward tempered  will,  if  complex  in  shape,  contain  many 
internal  stresses,  which  may  later  cause  it  to  break.  They 
may  be  eased  off  by  slight  heating  without  materially  less- 
ening the  hardness  of  the  piece.  One  way  to  do  this  is  to 
hold  the  piece  over  a  fire  and  test  it  as  Mrs.  Small-Shop 
Man  tests  her  hot  flatiron  —  with  a  moistened  finger. 
Another  way  is  to  dip  the  piece  in  boiling  water  after  it  has 
first  been  quenched  in  a  cold  bath.  Such  steps  are  not 
necessary  with  articles  which  are  afterward  tempered  and 
in  which  the  strains  are  thus  reduced. 

In  annealing  steels  the  operation  is  similar  to  harden- 
ing, as  far  as  heating  is  concerned.  The  critical  tempera- 
tures given  in  the  table  are  the  proper  ones  for  annealing 
as  well  as  hardening.  From  this  point  on  there  is  a  differ- 
ence, for  annealing  consists  in  cooling  as  slowly  as  possible. 
The  slower  the  cooling  the  softer  will  be  the  steel. 

Annealing  may  be  done  in  the  open  air,  in  furnaces,  in 
hot  ashes  or  lime,  in  powdered  charcoal,  in  burnt  bone,  in 
charred  leather  and  in  water.  There  is  surely  some  range 
of  choice  for  the  small-shop  man  when  it  comes  to  doing 
this  work.  Open-air  annealing  will  do  as  a  crude  measure 
in  cases  where  it  is  desired  to  take  the  internal  stresses 
out  of  a  piece.  Care  must  be  taken  in  using  this  method 
that  the  piece  is  not  exposed  to  drafts  or  placed  on  some 
cold  substance  that  will  chill  it.  Furnace  annealing  is 
much  better  and  consists  in  heating  the  piece  in  a  furnace 
to  the  critical  temperature .  and  then  allowing  the  work 
and  the  furnace  to  cool  together. 

When  lime  or  ashes  are  used  as  materials  to  keep  air 
away  from  the  steel  and  retain  the  heat,  they  should  be 
first  heated  to  make  sure  that  they  are  dry.  Powdered 
charcoal  is  used  for  high-grade  annealing,  the  piece  being 
packed  in  this  substance  in  an  iron  box  and  both  the 
work  and  the  box  raised  to  the  critical  temperature  and 


(32) 


HARDENING  AND  SOFTENING  STEELS  IN  THE   SMALL  SHOP 


PIG.  1.   THE  HOLE 
TO  BE   MADE 


then  allowed  to  cool  slowly.  Machinery  steel  may  be 
annealed  in  spent  ground-bone  that  has  been  used  in 
casehardening ;  but  tool  steel  must  never  be  annealed  in 
this  way,  as  it  will  be  injured  by  the  phosphorus  contained 
in  the  bone.  Charred  leather  is  the  best  annealing  material 
for  high-carbon  steel,  because  it  prevents  decarbonizing 
taking  place. 

Water  annealing  consists  in  heating  the  piece,  allowing 
it  to  cool  in  air  until  it  loses  its  red  heat  and  becomes 
black  and  then  immediately  quenching  it  in  water.  This 
plan  works  well  for  very  low-carbon 
steel;  but  for  high-carbon  steel  what  is 
known  as  the  "  double  annealing  treat- 
ment "  must  be  given,  provided  results 
are  wanted  quickly,  as  is  usually  the 
case  with  water  or  oil-bath  annealing. 
The  process  consists  of  quenching  the 
steel  in  water  or  oil,  as  in  hardening, 
and  then  reheating  it  to  just  below 
the  critical  point  and  again  quenching 
it  in  oil.  This  process  retains  in  the 
steel  a  fine-grain  structure  combined 
with  softness.  Large  pieces  of  steel 
should  be  rough-turned  before  anneal- 
ing. It  will  not  be  necessary  to  say 
anything  about  color  -tempering,  this 
being  a  subject  familiar  to  all.  In 
drawing  temper,  however,  the  color  is 
not  the  only  gage  that  can  be  used.  One  of  the  best 
is  a  thermometer  in  a  bath  of  heavy  oil  having  a  flash 
point  between  500  and  600  deg.,  which  will  take  care 
of  all  the  tempers  up  to  that  corresponding  to  dark  blue. 
The  steel  is  first  preheated  slowly  in  a  fire  or  furnace, 
as  it  might  crack  if  plunged  immediately  into  the  hot 
oil.  '.;:, 

In  hardening  high-speed  steel  the  main  requirement  is 
to  get  the  cutting  edge  hot  enough.  The  air  blast  for 
cooling  is  going  out  of  fashion  and  an  oil  bath  is  taking 
its  place,  which  will  be  good  news  to  the  small  shop  that 
has  no  air  compressor.  Lathe  and  planer  tools  are  usually 
left  in  their  quenched  condition,  for  use,  not  being  tem- 
pered or  drawn.  More  complicated  and  expensive  high- 
speed steel  cutters  are  somewhat  insured  against  break- 
age by  drawing  the  temper  slightly.  Milling  cutters  are 
drawn  to  400  deg.  F.,  drills  and  reamers  to  450  deg.  and 
taps  and  dies  are  let  down  a  little  farther,  not,  however, 
reaching  500  deg. 


Boring  Pump  Chambers  in  the 
Drilling  Machine 

BY  A.  N.  PATTERSON 

In  the  illustration,  Fig.  1,  is  shown  a  pump-chamber 
pocket  that  was  bored  in  a  drill  press.  The  top  flange 
was  faced,  drilled  and  tapped  before  the  boring  was  done. 
This  was  permissible,  as  the  pockets  had  no  relation  one  to 
the  other,  and  the  distances  between  centers  of  the  cham- 
bers did  not  have  to  be  absolutely  accurate. 

In  Fig.  2  is  shown  the  arrangement  of  tools  for  all 
operations.  A  is  a  plate  to  hold  the.  guide  bushing  B; 
this  plate  was  secured  to  the  :top  flange  by  capscrews  in 
the  tapped  holes.  The  method  of  operation  is  as  follows : 
The  boring  bar  in  the  spindle  of  the  drill  press  is  raised 


clear  of  the  work,  the  guide  bushing  B  is  slipped  over  the 
bar  and  the  cutter  inserted  and  secured.  The  bar  is  then 
lowered  to  the  work,  the  bushing  being  pushed  down  in 
the  plate,  and  the  boring  commenced. 

A  roughing  and  finishing  cutter  was  used  for  each 
diameter  to  be  bored.  The  dimensions  of  the  bar  and 
bushing  were  such  that  the  bushing  would  enter  the  plate 
before  the  cutting  commenced,  so  that  the  bar,  was  always 
guided  when  boring. 

The  tool  used  for  chamfering  the  bottom  of  the  hole  is 


FIG.     2.     ARRANGEMENT 
OP  TOOLS 


FIG.    3.     THE    CHAMFER- 
ING TOOL 


shown  in  Fig.  3.  In  doing  this  operation  the  bushing 
was  raised  clear  of  the  plate  and  the  boring  bar  and 
tool  inserted  eccentrically  in  the  hole,  to  permit  it  to  enter. 
The  bushing  was  then  forced  into  the  plate,  centering  the 
bar,  and  by  feeding  upward  the  hole  was  chamfered. 


A  Handy  Driver  for  Removing 
Shell  Sockets 

BY  JOHN  DUNN 

The  accompanying  sketch  shows  a  very  handy  driver 
for  removing  the  brass  socket  from  an  18-lb.  shrapnel 
shell  in  order  to  correct  the  weight  or  put  on  a  new 
socket. 

The  shell  is  first  heated  to  break  the  solder  joint  between 
the  brass  socket  and  the  tube.  The  plug  is  then  screwed 


Taper  Pin  (<.... 


SHELL-SOCKET  REMOVER 


in.  Tightening  the  nut  on  top  expands  the  plug;  then 
by  the  use  of  a  large  wrench  the  socket  may  be  backed 
out.  This  driver  will  not  harm  the  socket,  which  may 
be  put  back  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  it  makes  an  other- 
wise nasty  job  very  easy. 


(33) 


Carbonizing  Small-Shop  Steels 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  Carbonizing  is  the  first  step  in 
casehardening.  Unless  this  part  of  the  work  is 
done  with  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  involved, 
the  final  result  will  be  uncertain.  This  article 
gives  an  explanation  of  the  action  of  carbonizing 
processes  as  applied  to  both  low-  and  high-carbon 
steels. 

Out  in  the  woods  of  North  Carolina,  ten  miles  from  the 
nearest  populated  point,  a  gang  of  men  were  converting 
pine  trees  into  rough  lumber.  For  this  purpose  they  used 
axes  and  a  'portable  sawmill  outfit  run  by  a  side-crank 
engine  such  as  is  commonly  found  in  these  migrating 
lumber  camps.  One  day  the  boiler,  which  was  rather 
inclined  to  bad  attacks  or  spasms,  delivered  an  unusually 
large  gob  of  water  through  its  discharge  pipe  to  the 
long-suffering  engine  cylinder  just  at  the  time  that  the 
saw  was  biting  its  way  through  a  pugnacious  pine  knot. 
The  combination  of  circumstances  was  too  much  for  the 
crosshead  pin  of  the  engine. 

"  I  don't  see  what  made  the  darn  thing  break,"  said 
the  lanky  North  Carolinian  who  acted  not  only  as  boss 
of  the  outfit,  but  also  as  master  mechanic.  Indeed  the 
fracture,  to  one  who  was  not  experienced  in  such  matters, 
would  appear  to  be  a  good  one.  Still,  it  was  evident  that 
something  must  have  been  wrong  with  the  pin,  for  by  all 
expectations  the  cylinder  head  should  have  gone  before 
this  part  of  the  apparatus  gave  away. 

To  get  at  the  real  reason  for  this  mishap,  which  meant 
the  loss  of  many  dollars  and  a  shutdown  of  many  days 
to  this  lumber  camp,  let  us  go  back  to  the  factory  in  which 
this  crosshead  pin  was  made  and  see  how  the  work  was 
done.  If  the  lanky  lumber-camp  boss  could  go  along 
with  us  and  also  see  what  caused  the  accident,  I  am  sure 
that  he  would  be  more  particular  in  the  future  in  buying 
an  engine  and  possibly  willing  to  pay  enough  to  avoid  the 
junk  that  is  frequently  offered. 

In  the  shop  that  built  this  engine  the  aim  was  not 
so  much  to  give  service  as  it  was,  to  put  it  crudely,  to 
find  suckers.  The  idea  was  to  produce  an  engine  at  the 
lowest  possible  cost,  sell  it  at  a  price  that  would  be  an 
inducement  much  greater  than  quality  and  not  worry 
too  much  about  what  happened  to  it  after  it  was  in  use. 
One  of  the  safeguards  of  this  policy  was  the  knowledge 
of  many  ways  by  which  a  skillful  correspondent  can  make 
defects  of  construction  appear  as  errors  in  operation. 

To  make  the  descriptive  matter  as  imposing  as  possible, 
such  items  as  charcoal-iron  castings,  hammered  babbitt 
bearings  and  casehardened  pins  were  described  at  length, 
although  as  a  matter  of  actual  fact  the  nearest  that  any 
charcoal  got  to  the  iron  was  in  the  fire  used  in  drying 
the  skin  of  the  mold,  and  the  only  hammering  that  the 
bearings  received  was  that  due  to  the  pounding  of  the 
rod  after  the  engine  was  in  service.  As  for  the  case- 
hardened  pins,  the  blacksmith  took  them  under  his  wing 
after  they  were  fully  machined,  heated  them  up  in  his 
forge,  sprinkled  a  little  cyanide  of  potassium  over  their 
surfaces,  turned  them  around  in  the  fire  once  or  twice, 
to  get  the  same  effect  as  is  obtained  by  basting  chickens.' 
and  then  plunged  them  into  a  cold  brine  solution.  This 


procedure  did  make  the  outer  -skins  of  these  pins  very 
hard,  but  it  left  the  inner  core  extremely  coarse-grained 
and  weak.  The  pin  could  not  be  touched  with  a  file  and 
might  appear  to  be  a  very  long-wearing  product,  but 
was  brittle  and  weak.  If  it  had  really  been  wise  on  the 
subject  of  carbonizing  and  casehardening,  this  firm  could 
have  avoided  this  feature  and  also  reduced  the  cost  of 
carbonizing  the  crosshead  pin  —  getting  a  high-grade 
result  for  less  money. 

Casehardening  divides  itself  into  two  parts  —  carbon- 
izing and  quenching.  A  great  many  people  think  that 
the  quenching  must  be  done  at  the  same  heat  as  that 
at  which  the  piece  is  carbonized.  This  idea  is  entirely 
wrong,  and  these  two  processes  can  be  regarded  as  separate 
operations;  in  fact,  in  this  article  I  will  stick  to  the 


Fig.!. 
Cast-Iron  Carburizing  Box 


„  i 

> 

Fig  Z.  Minimum  Clearance 
of  Work  in   Carburizing  Box 


_\\?    V  V   '•!'    'l'^ 


~:  ®iOO 

£»•  fj 


Illustrating  Unequal  Carbur'zing 


Wires  forTming  Carburizing  Heats 


FIGS.    1    TO    4.     CARBONIZING  BOXES    AND   DETAILS 
ILLUSTRATING    THEIR    USE 


carbonizing  part  of  it  as  closely  as  possible  and  save  the 
quenching  for  another  time. 

There  are  four  different  reasons  for  casehardening,  and 
they  must  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  way  of 
doing  it.  The  first  is  to  secure  a  hard  surface  —  maximum 
hardness  to  resist  wear  without  shock.  Again,  a  piece 
may  be  casehardened  for  the  purpose  of  securing  stiffness, 
thus  reducing  the-  likelihood  of  the  stretching  of  light 
sections  while  at  the  same  time  allowing  the  use  of  cheap 
machinery-steel  stock.  A  third  purpose  is  to  secure  colors 
on  certain  classes  of  work.  The  fourth,  which  is  possibly 
the  least  understood  in  most  shops,  is  that  of  securing  a 
hard  cutting  edge,  not  only  on  low-carbon  steels,  but  also 
on  tool  steels. 

These  different  purposes  are  secured  by  the  proper 
selection  of  the  carbonizing  material  in  which  the  articles 
are  packed  and  of  the  bath  in  which  they  are  quenched. 

The  general  practice  of  carbonizing  is  as  follows :  The 
articles  are  placed  in  cast-iron  boxes  surrounded  by 
materials  that  will  give  up  carbon  when  heated.  These 
boxes  and  their  contents  are  next  heated  through,  beyond 
the  critical  point  of  the  steel  involved  (see  page  31) 
and  are  allowed  to  soak  at  this  temperature  for  a  length 


(34) 


CARBONIZING  SMALL-SHOP  STEELS 


of  time  depending  on  the  depth  of  case  wished.  A  con- 
venient box  for  this  purpose  is  shown  in  Fig.  1. 

There  are  certain  precautions  to  be  taken  in  packing 
a  box  of  this  kind.  In  the  tug^of-war  to  absorb  whatever 
free  carbon  is  released  by  the  heated  carbonizing  material, 
cast  iron  has  a  much  stronger  pull  than  has  steel.  As 
a  result,  if  the  pieces  are  placed  too  near  the  cast-iron 
walls  of  the  containing  box,  these  walls  will  get  the  benefit 
of  the  carbon  to  the  detriment  of  the  pieces.  Fig.  2 
shows  a  cross-section  through  a  casehardening  box  and 
gives  the  minimum  clearances  for  the  articles  with  rela- 
tion to  each  other  and  to  the  walls  and  bottom  of  the  box. 

The  casehardening  box  must  not  be  too  large,  especially 
for  light  work  that  is  run  on  a  short  heat.  The  reason 
for  this  is  shown  in  the  diagram  in  Fig.  3.  When  a  box 
of  this  kind  is  put  into  a  furnace,  it  heats  from  the  outside 
toward  the  center,  taking  from  one-half  hour  to  an  hour 
and  a  half  to  heat  through  uniformly,  depending  upon  the 
liveliness  of  the  fire.  If  the  contents  of  such  a  box  are 
dumped  after  a  short  heat,  the  pieces  on  the  outside  rows 
will  have  been  at  the  carbonizing  heat  much  larger  than 
those  nearer  the  center  of  the  box,  the  result  being  a 
much  greater  gain  in  carbon  in  these  outer  pieces,  as 
illustrated  by  the  sectional  shading  in  Fig.  3. 

The  temperature  to  be  used  for  carbonizing  depends 
on  the  amount  of  carbon  already  in  the  steel  to  be  treated. 
This  temperature  must  be  above  the  critical  point  of  the 
steel;  and  if  you  know  its  carbon  contents,  you  can  obtain 
this  point  from  the  table  on  page  31.  Low-carbon 
machinery  steel  containing  from  15  to  20  points  carbon 
is  commonly  used  for  this  purpose,  and  such  steels  must 
be  heated  to  between  1,650  and  1,750  deg.  F.  The  more 
carbon  that  there  is  in  the  steel  to  start  with  the  slower 
it  will  be  in  taking  on  additional  carbon  and  the  lower 
is  the  temperature  required.  In  ordinary  casehardening, 
the  outer  surface  of  steel  has  its  carbon  increased  from 
15  or  20  points  to  80  or  85  points.  Tool  steels  may  be 
carbonized  as  high  as  250  points,  but  this  amount  is  a 
maximum  and  is  seldom,  if  ever,  required. 

The  materials  used  for  carbonizing  are  many.  Among 
the  most  common  are  wood  and  bone  charcoal,  ground 
or  crushed  bone,  charred  leather,  horns  and  hoofs.  There 


Cyanide  of.. 
Cham*  Leather  *>+<•"«"»       '    F'9 • 


PIGS.    5   TO   9.     LOCAL   CARBONIZING   BY  THE   USE 
OF  VARIOUS   METHODS 

are  also  combined  preparations,  one  of  the  best  of  which 
is  a  mixture  of  barium  carbonite,  40  per  cent.,  and 
charcoal,  60  per  cent.  This  mixture  gives  a  rate  of  pene- 
tration which  is  from  10  to  20  per  cent,  faster  than  that 
of  charcoal,  bone  or  leather.  Fig.  10  shows  the  penetration 
of  this  mixture  on  ordinary  low-carbon  machinery-steel 
stock  over  a  range  of  2  to  12  hr. 


Each  of  these  different  packing  materials  has  a  different 
effect  upon  the  work  in  which  it  is  heated.  Charcoal  by 
itself  will  give  a  rather  light  case.  Mixed  with  raw  bone 
it  will  carbonize  more  rapidly,  and  still  more  so  if  mixed 
with  burnt  bone.  Raw  bone  and  burnt  bone,  as  may  be 
inferred,  are  both  quicker  carbonizers  than  charcoal,  but 
raw  bone  must  never  be  used  where  the  breakage  of 


0.050* 
ZHours 


FIG.  10.      ORDINARY  CASE  PENETRATION  IN  LOW-CARBON 
STEEL  FOR  VARIOUS  HEATS 


hardened  edges  is  to  be  avoided,  as  it  contains  phosphorus 
and  tends  to  make  the  piece  brittle.  Charred  leather 
mixed  with  charcoal  is  a  still  faster  material,  and  horns 
and  hoofs  exceed  even  this  in  speed ;  but  these  two  com- 
pounds are  restricted  by  their  cost  to  use  with  high-grade 
articles,  usually  of  tool  or  high-carbon  steel,  that  are  to 
be  hardened  locally  —  that  is,  "  pack-hardened."  Cyanide 
of  potassium  and  prussiate  of  potash  are  also  included 
in  the  list  of  carbonizing  materials;  but  outside  of  carbon- 
izing by  dipping  into  melted  baths  of  these  materials, 
which  I  will  describe  later,  their  use  is  largely  confined 
to  local  hardening  of  small  surfaces,  such  as  holes  in  dies 
and  the  like. 

One  of  the  advantages  of  hardening  by  carbonizing 
is  the  fact  that  you  can  arrange  to  leave  part  of  the 
work  soft  and  thus  retain  the  toughness  and  strength  of 
the  original  material.  Figs.  5  and  9  show  ways  of  doing 
this.  The  inside  of  the  cup  in  Fig.  5  is  locally  hardened, 
as  illustrated  in  Fig.  6,  "  spent "  or  used  bone  being  packed 
around  the  surfaces  that  are  to  be  left  soft,  while  cyanide 
of  potassium  is  put  around  those  which  are  desired  hard. 
The  threads  of  the  nut  in  Fig.  7  are  kept  soft  by  carbon- 
izing the  nut  while  upon  a  stud.  The  profile  gage, 
Fig.  8,  is  made  of  high-carbon  steel  and  is  hardened  on 
the  inside  by  packing  with  charred  leather,  but  kept 
soft  on  the  outside  by  surrounding  it  with  fireclay.  The 
rivet  stud  shown  in  Fig.  9  is  carbonized  while  of  its  full 
diameter  and  then  turned  down  to  the  size  of  the  rivet 
end,  thus  cutting  away  the  carbonized  surface.  Pieces 
of  this  kind  are  of  course  not  quenched  and  hardened 
in  the  carbonizing  heat,  but  are  left  in  the  box  to  cool, 
just  as  in  box  annealing,  being  reheated  and  quenched 
as  a  second  operation.  In  fact,  this  is  a  good  scheme  to 
use  for  the  majority  of  carbonizing  work  of  small  and 
moderate  size.  Sometimes  it  is  wished  to  harden  a  thin 
piece  of  sheet  steel  halfway  through,  retaining  the  soft 
portion  as  a  backing  for  strength.  Material  is  on  the 
market  with  which  one  side  of  the  steel  can  be  treated ; 
or  copper-plating  one  side  of  it  will  answer  the  same  pur- 
pose and  prevent  that  side  becoming  carbonized. 


(35) 


Casehardening  Small -Shop  Steels 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  — This  article  deals  with  the  subject 
of  quenching  case-carbonized  articles  and  with  the 
heat  treatment  of  such  pieces  to  secure  maximum 
toughness.  Pack-hardening  is  discussed  and  also 
the  casehardening  of  alloy  steels  and  cast  iron. 
A  combination  quenching  tank  for  hardening  and 
coloring  is  illustrated. 

All  blacksmiths  are  by  nature  and  training  more  or 
less  experimenters,  and  very  few  have  not  some  "  secret " 
formula  for  accomplishing  wonderful  results  in  harden- 
ing. Cast-iron  hardening  has  received  a  good  part  of 
their  attention  in  this  respect  with  varying  degrees  of 
success.  While  it  has  been  an  easy  matter  to  make  cast 
iron  extremely  hard  on  the  surface  —  in  fact,  as  hard  as 
the  hardest  tool  steel  —  no  one  has  as  yet  found  a  way 
to  add  the  element  of  strength  to  this  hardness  without 
which  its  use  is  limited  to  gages,  templets  and  other  things 
that  do  not  require  much  strength. 

Some  amusing  results  often  accompany  such  experi- 
ments. One  blacksmith  of  my  acquaintance,  who  had 
obtained  very  fair  results  with  cast-iron  hardening,  was 
always  searching  for  some  chemical  or  compound  to  add 
to  the  quenching  bath  to  make  this  "  grip  "  the  metal  more 
forcibly.  This  "  grip "  is  a  noticeable  thing  in  harden- 
ing cast  iron;  not  only  can  you  feel  it  on  the  end  of 
the  tongs,  but  when  certain  solutions  are  used,  it  becomes 
so  forcible  as  to  make  itself  heard  —  making  one  think 
that  a  miniature  torpedo  was  exploding  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  water.  I  was  passing  through  his  black- 
smith shop  one  day  when  a  new  mixture  was  being 
tried  out.  As  soon  as  the  blacksmith  plunged  the  red- 
hot  casting  into  the  barrel  containing  this  mixture,  there 
was  a  violent  explosion  in  which  blacksmith,  barrel, 
quenching  mixture  and  casting  were  indiscriminately 
mixed.  The  experimenter  picked  himself  up,  felt  of 
the  various  parts  of  his  anatomy  to  see  what  was  miss- 
ing and,  finding  himself  intact,  exclaimed  regretfully: 
"  Say,  what  a  fine  mixture  that  would  be  if  you  could 
only  get  a  barrel  strong  enough  to  hold  it!  "  I  do  not 
know  what  caused  this  explosion,  but  having  seen  it, 
can  be  sure  that  it  happened  and  also  that  it  put  an  end 
to  the  experimenting  of  this  particular  blacksmith,  who 
afterward  stuck  to  the  tried  and  tested  formulas.  Prob- 
ably the  heat  of  the  casting  was  all  that  was  needed  to 
set  up  some  powerful  chemical  reaction  between  the  ele- 
ments in  the  bath. 

An  old  formula  that  has  done  good  service  in  the  mat- 
ter of  surface-hardening  cast  iron  is  as  follows:  To 
20  gal.  of  water  add  1  pint  of  oil  of  vitriol,  2  pecks  of 
salt,  4  Ib.  of  alum,  %  Ib.  yellow  prussiate  of  potash, 
%  Ib-  cyanide  of  potash  and  1  Ib.  saltpeter.  This  bath 
can  be  kept  in  a  covered  wooden  barrel.  The  casting  is 
heated  cherry-red  and  then  plunged  into  this  bath,  which 
hardens  its  surface.  Sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  repeat 
this  performance  two  or  three  times  to  get  the  surface 
sufficiently  hard. 


The  quenching  tank  is  an  important  feature  of  appara- 
tus in  casehardening  —  possibly  more  so  than  in  ordinary 
tempering.  One  reason  for  this  is  because  of  the  large 
quantities  of  pieces  usually  dumped  into  the  tank  at  a 
time.  One  cannot  take  time  to  separate  the  articles 
themselves  from  the  casehardening  mixture,  and  the 
whole  content  of  the  box  is  dropped  into  the  bath  in 
short  order,  as  exposure  to  air  of  the  heated  work  is 
fatal  to  results.  Unless  it  is  split  up,  it  is  likely  to  go 
to  the  bottom  as  a  solid  mass,  in  which  case  very  few  of 
the  pieces  are  properly  hardened.  A  combination  cool- 
ing tank  is  shown  in  Fig.  1.  Water  inlet  and  outlet 
pipes  are  shown  and  also  a  drain  plug  that  enables  the 


Comprfsseef-4/r  Spray-- 

(under  Mre  Tray) — —  ~ 


FIG.  1.     COMBINATION  COOLING  TANK  FOR 
CASEHARDENING 

tank  to  be  emptied  when  it  is  desired  to  clean  out  the 
spent  carbonizing  material  from  the  bottom.  A  wire- 
bottomed  tray,  framed  with  angle  iron,  is  arranged  to 
slide  into  this  tank  from  the  top  and  rests  upon  angle 
irons  screwed  to  the  tank  sides.  Its  function  is  to  catch 
the  pieces  and  prevent  them  from  settling  to  the  tank 
bottom,  and  it  also  makes  it  easy  to  remove  a  batch  of 
work.  A  bottomless  box  of  sheet  steel  is  shown  at  C. 
This  fits  into  the  wire-bottomed  tray  and  has  a  number 
of  rods  or  wires  running  across  it,  their  purpose  being 
to  break  up  the  mass  of  material  as  it  comes  from  the 
carbonizing  box. 

Below  the  wire-bottomed  tray  is  a  perforated  cross- 
pipe  that  is  connected  with  a  compressed-air  line.  This 
is  used  when  casehardening  for  colors.  The  shop  that 


(36) 


CASEHARDENING  SMALL-SHOP  STEELS 


has  no  air  compresser  may  rig  up  a  satisfactory  equiva- 
lent in  the  shape  of  a  low-pressure  hand-operated  air 
pump  and  a  receiver  tank,  for  it  is  not  necessary  to  use 
high-pressure  air  for  this  purpose.  When  colors  are 
desired  on  casehardened  work,  the  treatment  in  quenching 
is  exactly  the  same  as  that  previously  described  except 
that  air  is  pumped  through  this  pipe  and  keeps  the  water 
agitated.  The  addition  of  a  slight  amount  of  powdered 
cyanide  of  potassium  to  the  packing  material  used  for 
carbonizing  will  produce  stronger  colors,  and  where  this 
is  the  sole  object,  it  is  best  to  maintain  the  box  at  a  dull- 
red  heat. 

The  old  way  of  casehardening  was   in   nine  shops  out 
of  ten  to  dump  the  contents  of  the  box  at  the  end  of  the 
carbonizing  heat;   in  fact,  this  plan  still  exists  in  many 
shops  that  should  know  better.     Later  study  in  the  struc- 
ture    of     steel     thus 

O        Untreated  Steel 
Fine  grained  and  "tough, 
0./5toO.ZO%  Carbon 


Carbonized  at  1700  Deaf: 
Quenched  in  Water 


Casf60%to90%  Carbon 
Case  hard  and  brrtf/e 
Core  coarse  grained  a/id 
brittle, W5&  0.20%  Carton 

Case  hardened  on 
Carbonizing  heat 


Reheated  to  1750  Deg.T 
Quenched  in  Water 


Case80%  to90%Carbon 

Case  bnttte  and 
very  hard 

Core  fine  grained  ana1 
tough,  015%to  0.20% 
Carvon 

Reheated  to  refine  the  Core 


Reheated  to  1500  Deg.  F 
Quendhed  in  Water 


treated  has  caused  a 
change  in  thjs  pro- 
cedure, the  use  of 
automobiles  and  al- 
loy steels  probably 
hastening  this  result. 
The  diagrams  repro- 
duced in  Fig.  2  show 
why  the  heat  treat- 
ment of  casehardened 
work  is  necessary. 
Starting  at  A  with 
a  close-grained  and 
tough  stock,  such  as 
ordinary  machinery 
steel  containing  from 
15  to  20  points  of 
carbon,  if  such  work 
is  quenched  on  a  car- 
bonizing heat,  the  re- 
sult will  be  as  shown 
at  B\  Here  we  have 
a  core  that  is  coarse- 
grained and  brittle 
and  an  outer  case 
that  is  fine-grained 
and  hard,  but  is 
likely  to  flake  off, 
owing  to  the  great 
difference  in  struc- 
ture between  it  and 
the  core.  Reheating 
this  work  beyond  the  critical  temperature  of  the  core 
refines  this  core,  closes  the  grain  and  makes,  it  tough,  but 
leaves  the  case  very  brittle;  in  fact,  more  so  than  it  was 
before.  This  is  remedied  by  reheating  the  piece  to  a  tem- 
perature slightly  above  the  critical  temperature  of  the 
case,  this  temperature  corresponding  ordinarily  to  that  of 
steel  having 'a  carbon  content  of  85  points.  When  this  is 
again  quenched,  the  temperature,  which  has  not  been  high 
enough  to  disturb  the  refined  core,  will  have  closed  the 
grain  of  the  case  and  toughened  it.  Thus,  instead  of 
but  one  heat  and  one  quenching  for  this  class  of  work, 
we  have  three  of  each,  although  it  is  quite  possible  and 
often  profitable  to  omit  the  quenching  after  carbonizing 
and  allow  the  piece  or  pieces  and  the  case-carbonizing 
box  to  cool  together,  as  in  annealing.  Sometimes 
another  heat-treatment  is  added  to  the  foregoing,  for  the 


••Case  S0%to90%  Carbon 
-Case  tough  and  hard 

Core  finegrained  and 
tough,/5%'to20%  Carbon 


to  toughen  the  Case, 


FIG.  2.  WHY  HEAT  TREATMENT 

OF  CASEHARDENED  WORK 

IS  NECESSARY 


purpose  of  letting  down  the  hardness  of  the  case  and 
giving  it  additional  toughness  by  heating  to  a  tempera- 
ture between  300  and  500  deg.  Usually  this  is  done  in 
an  oil  bath.  After  this  the  piece  is  allowed  to  cool. 

It  is  possible  to  harden  the  surface  of  tool  steel 
extremely  hard  and  yet  leave  its  inner  core  soft  and  tough 
for  strength,  by  a  process  similar  to  casehardening  and 
known  as  "pack-hardening."  It  consists  in  using  tool 
steel  of  carbon  contents  ranging  from  60  to  80  points, 
packing  this  in  a  box  with  charred  leather  mixed  with 
wood  charcoal  and  heating  at  a  low-red  heat  for  2  or  3 
hr.,  thus  raising  the  carbon  content  of  the  exterior  of  the 
piece.  The  article  when  quenched  in  an  oil  bath  will 
have  an  extremely  hard  exterior  and  tough  core.  It  is 
a  good  scheme  for  tools  that  must  be  hard  and  yet  strong 
enough  to  stand  abuse.  Raw  bone  is  never  used  as  a 
packing  for  this  class  of  work,  as  it  makes  the  cutting 
edges  brittle. 

CASEHARDENING  TREATMENTS  FOR  VARIOUS  STEELS 

Plain  water,  salt  water  and  linseed  oil  are  the  three 
most  common  quenching  materials  for  casehardening. 
Water  is  used  for  ordinary  work,  salt  water  for  work 
which  must  be  extremely  hard  on  the  surface,  and  oil 
for  work  in  which  toughness  is  the  main  consideration. 
The  higher  the  carbon  of  the  case,  the  less  sudden  need 
the  quenching  action  take  hold  of  the  piece;  in  fact, 
experience  in  casehardening  work  gives  a  great  many 
combinations  of  quenching  baths  of  these  three  materials, 
depending  on  their  temperatures.  Thin  work,  highly 
carbonized,  which  would  fly  to  pieces  under  the  slightest 
blow  if  quenched  in  water  or  brine,  is  made  strong  and 
tough  by  properly  quenching  in  slightly  heated  oil.  It 
is  impossible  to  give  any  rules  for  the  temperature  of  this 
work,  so  much  depending  on  the  size  and  design  of  the 
piece;  but  it  is  not  a  difficult  matter  to  try  three  or  four 
pieces  by  different  methods  and  determine  what  is  needed 
for  best  results. 

The  alloy  steels  are  all  susceptible  of  casehardening 
treatment;  in  fact,  this  is  one  of  the  most  important  heat 
treatments  for  such  steels  in  the  automobile  industry. 
Nickel  steel  carbonizes  more  slowly  than  common  steel, 
the  nickel  seeming  to  have  the  effect  of  slowing  down 
.  the  rate  of  penetration.  There  is  no  cloud  without  its 
silver  lining,  however,  and  to  offset  this  retardation,  a 
single  treatment  is  often  sufficient  for  nickel  steel;  for 
the  core  is  not  coarsened  as  much  as  low-carbon  machin- 
ery steel  and  thus  ordinary  work  may  be  quenched  on 
the  carbonizing  heat.  Steel  containing  from  3  to  3^/2 
per  cent,  of  nickel  is  carbonized  between  1,300  and  1,400 
deg.  F.  Nickel  steel  containing  less  than  25  points  of 
carbon,  with  this  same  percentage  of  nickel,  may  be  case- 
hardened  by  cooling  in  air  instead  of  quenching. 

Chrome-nickel  steel  may  be  casehardened  similarly  to 
the  method  just  described  for  nickel  steel,  but  double 
treatment  gives  better  results  and  is  used  for  high-grade 
work.  The  carbonizing  temperature  is  the  same,  between 
1,300  and  1,400  deg.  F.,  the  second  treatment  consisting 
of  reheating  to  1,400  deg.  and  then  quenching  in  boiling 
salt  water,  which  gives  a  hard  surface  and  at  the  same 
time  prevents  distortion  of  the  piece.  The  core  of  chrome- 
nickel  casehardened  steel,  like  that  of  nickel  steel,  is 
not  coarsened  excessively  by  the  first  heat-treatment,  and 
therefore  a  single  heating  and  quenching  will  suffice  for 
ordinary  work. 


(37) 


Taking  Small -Shop  Temperatures 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAX  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS — The  small-shop  man  is  not  inter- 
ested in  abstract  theories.  But  if  an  appliance,  tool 
or  instrument  will  help  him  make  more  -money 
or  produce  a  better  product,  he  wants  it.  This 
article  deals  with  pyrometers  from  the  small-shop 
users'  viewpoint. 


Why  does  an  Indian  decorate  himself  with  feathers 
and  war  paint,  a  doctor  write  prescriptions  in  hog  Latin, 
and  a  scientist  cover  up  a  new  grain  of  knowledge  with  a 


name  that  has  been  dead  and  buried  for  ten  thousand 
years?  Not  because  any  one  of  these  individuals  has  a 
grudge  against  the  small-shop  owner,  but  because  each 
is  instinctively  following  one  of  the  three  inherited  prin- 
ciples of  the  preservation  of  prestige.  The  Indian  is  put- 
ting up  a  physical  bluff  —  decorating  his  body  so  that  he 
will  appear  imposing.  The  scientist  is  putting  up  a 
mental  bluff  —  decorating  his  discovery  with  a  name  that 
will  be  hard  for  common  people  to  pronounce  and  under- 
stand. The  doctor  is  not  bluffing  at  all  —  he  is  just 
keeping  business  in  the  family,  and  the  worst  part  of 
it  is  that  all  three  of  these  fellows  get  away  with  it! 


VARIOUS  TYPES  OF  PYROMETERS   SUITABLE  FCR  USE   IN   THE   SMALL   SHOP 

F  —  Brown    base-metal    thprmocouple    with    bent    mounting.     G  — 


A  —  Le      Chatelier      portable      thermocouple      pyrometer.     B  — 
Hoskins      portable       pyrometer.     C  —  Bristol      portable      thermo- 
couple     pyrometer.     D  —  Englehard 
for      lead      pots,      etc.      E  —  Hoskins 


Le    Chatelier    rare-metal    fire    end    mounted 


arch    of    heating 

portable       bent      mounting    furnace.     H  —  Brown    expansion    pyrometer    mounted    in    tinning 
base-metal      thermocouple    bath.     J  —  Bristol   gas-expansion   recording  thermometer  mounted 


with      indicator      and      recorder      and      water-cooled      cold      end.    for  temperatures  of  fluid  under  pressure. 

(38) 


TAKING  SMALL-SHOP  TEMPERATURES 


I  believe  that  a  man  who  invents  a  new  machine  or 
appliance  •  and  then  goes  back  to  the  Dark  Ages  to  find  a 
name  for  it  is  unconsciously  handicapping  its  sale  and 
use.  The  name  conveys  the  impression  that  the  thing 
itself  is  highly  scientific  and  thus  erects  a  barrier  of 
exclusiveness.  Of  course  if  it  is  something  that  people 
need,  the  demand  for  it  will  in  time  overcome  the  handi- 
cap of  the  name,  which  will  become  familiar;  but  never- 
theless the  handicap  exists  at  first  and  is  an  unnecessary 
tone.  Take,  for  example,  tachymeters,  scleroscopes  and 
pyrometers  —  one  of  a  bashful  and  retiring  disposition 
might  hesitate  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  such  high 
brows,  whereas  he  would  be  glad  to  shake  hands  with  a 
"  speed  gage,"  "  hardness  tester  "  and  "  heat  gage." 

This  may  be  one  reason  why  the  measurement  of 
temperatures  in  small  shops  is  not  as  thoroughly  under- 
stood as  it  should  be.  It  takes  time  for  instruments  which 
originate  in  the  laboratory  to  filter  down  to  the  level  of 
small-shop  practicability.  But  I  venture  to  predict  that 
20  years  from  now  the  pyrometer  will  be  as  familiar  and 
well  understood  a  small-shop  tool  as  is  the  micrometer  at 
the  present  day. 

Twenty  years  ago  a  micrometer  was  seldom  found  in 
a  small  shop.  Nowadays  you  seldom  find  a  small  shop 
without  one.  Progress  has  made  it  necessary  to  work  to 
close  limits  of  size,  and  the  use  of  proper  size-measuring 
instruments  followed  this  as  a  natural  result.  With  later 
progress  has  come  the  refinement  of  materials  which  calls 
for  some  means  to  measure  temperature  as  the  micrometer 
measures  diameter. 

OLD  MAN  JONES,  OF  LANCASTER  —  AN  OPTIMIST 

Old  Man  Jones,  of  Lancaster,  took  a  contract  for  some 
machines,  among  the  parts  of  which  were  a  number  of 
nickel-steel  heat-treated  gears.  He  never  had  handled 
any  alloy-steel  work  in  the  past,  but  had  a  blacksmith 
who  was  a  crackerjack  at  hardening  springs  and  cutting 
tools.  Jones,  being  a  progressive  chap,  determined  to 
meet  and  get  acquainted  with  the  alloy-steel  proposition, 
as  he  could  see  considerable  business  for  one  able  to 
handle  it.  After  careful  machining,  the  gears  were  handed 
over  to  the  blacksmith  for  heat-treatment.  This  gentle- 
man was  not  as  optimistic  on  the  subject  as  Old  Man 
Jones  but  said  that  he  would  do  the  best  he  could.  The 
heat-treatment  specified  was  to  heat  these  gears  to  1,550 
deg.,  quench,  reheat  to  1,350,  quench,  and  reheat  to  800 
deg.,  after  which  they  were  to  be  slowly  cooled. 

The  first  act  of  the  worthy  smith  was  to  look  up  a 
color  chart  and  translate  the  heat-treatment  temneratures 
into  colors  instead  of  degrees.  He  found  that  1.550  deg. 
F.  represented  a  medium  cherry  red,  1,350  a  dark  red, 
and  800  deg.  the  lowest  visible  red.  It  was  really  as 
easy  as  matching  shades  of  silk  in  a  dry-goods  store  with- 
out the  samples! 

The  furnace  was  a  small  one,  and  as  a  result  the  job  had 
to  be  divided  into  several  batches  which  were  senarately 
heated.  When  they  were  finished,  the  gears  all  looked 
much  alike  except  that  some  had  a  little  more  scale  than 
others.  They  rang  the  same  when  tapped  with  a  hammer 
and  seemed  to  give  the  same  amount  of  pull  upon  a  smooth 
file. 

Old  Man  Jones  and  his  blacksmith  tried  almost  every- 
thing they  could  think  of  to  test  those  gears,  except  biting 
a  piece  out  of  each  of  them.  They  were  sure  that  they 
had  a  good  job,  but  the  customer's  inspector  did  not 


seem  willing  to  take  their  view  of  the  matter.  He  put 
the  gears  under  a  strange-looking  instrument  that  was  a 
cross  between  a  thermometer  and  an  atomizer  and  declared 
that  twenty-three  out  of  thirty-five  would  not  pass  the 
required  hardness  test. 

"  Why  don't  you  fellows  get  a  pyrometer  and  know 
what  you  are  about  ? "  he  asked  Old  Man  Jones.  Then 
being  a  decent  sort  of  chap  and  seeing  that  he  might  as 
well  have  asked  Jones  why  he  did  not  keep  an 
ichthyosaurus  in  his  backyard,  he  explained  what  a  simple 
instrument  a  pyrometer  really  is. 

"  What  you  need  in  your  shop  is  a  thermocouple  pyrome- 
ter," said  the  inspector,  "  which  is  nothing  more  than 
a  couple  of  wires  running  from  an  indicator  and  joined 
together  within  the  furnace.  When  the  joined  end  of 
the  wires  is  heated,  you  look  at  the  indicator  and  read  off 
the  temperature.  The  thing  is  really  as  simple  as  a  ther- 
mometer and  a  good  deal  easier  to  read." 

VARIOUS  PYROMETERS  AND  AN  IRISHMAN 

There  are  a  number  of  kinds  of  pyrometers  besides  those 
made  on  the  thermocouple  principle.  Some  depend  on 
the  pressure  exerted  by  a  gas  inclosed  in  a  tube.  There 
is  an  accurate  type  known  as  the  "  resistance  pyrometer," 
which  is  a  bit  too  complex  for  the  average  small  shop. 
There  are  radiation  and  optical  pyrometers  which  look 
like  telescopes  and  are  simply  pointed  at  the  hot  objects. 
They  are  most  suitable  for  work  above  3,000  deg.  F.,  for 
no  part  of  the  apparatus  itself  is  heated. 

The  instrument  shown  at  H  in  the  illustration  is  an 
"  expansion  pyrometer."  It  works  on  the  difference  of 
expansion  of  graphite  and  iron  rods  in  its  stem,  and  its 
upper  working  limit  is  1,500  deg.  F.  I  recall  an  experience 
with  one  of  these  instruments  and  with  an  Irishman 
named  Pat,  who  was  engaged  to  run  the  galvanizing 
department  of  a  large  upstate  machine  shop.  The  man- 
agement of  this  plant  had  decided  to  have  everything  up  to 
date  and  so  got  a  pyrometer  for  Pat,  without  knowing 
that  his  education  had  not  gone  as  far  as  reading  either 
words  or  numbers.  Pat,  however,  was  too  foxy  an  indi- 
vidual to  give  this  fact  away.  Suspecting  it  and  wishing 
to  have  a  little  fun  with  him,  I  asked  him  one  day  what 
temperature  he  was  carrying  on  the  galvanizing  pot. 
Quick  as  a  flash  the  answer  came  back,  "  Sure  you  have 
got  spectakils  on;  you  can  see  it  twice  as  aisy  as  me!  " 

The  thermocouple  pyrometer,  which  is  the  one  for  the 
small  shop,  is  made  in  a  great  variety  of  styles  and  in 
two  general  classes,  portable  and  permanent.  The  first 
kind,  as  the  name  indicates,  can  be  carried  about  from 
place  to  place  and  used  to  take  the  temperature  of  almost 
anything  in  the  shop  except  a  feverish  haste.  The  second 
kind  is  installed  in  a  lead  pot,  heating  or  annealing  fur- 
nace or  other  place  where  it  is  desired  to  keep  a  continual 
check  on  temperatures. 

WHAT  CONSTITUTES  A  THERMOCOUPLE  PYROMETER 

The  parts  comprising  a  base-metal  thermocouple  pyrome- 
ter are  shown  in  the  illustration  at  K.  The  arrange- 
ment does  not  look  formidable,  and  indeed  it  is  about 
as  simple  an  instrument  as  could  be  devised.  It  con- 
sists of  a  couple  of  wires  of  unlike  material  which 
are  twisted  and  welded  together  at  one  end.  At  the 
other  end  they  are  connected  through  an  electric-wire 
circuit  with  a  simple  indicating  instrument  exactly 
similar  to  a  voltmeter,  except  that  it  registers  degrees  of 


(39) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


temperatures  instead  of  volts.  When  the  welded  end  of 
the  couple  is  heated,  an  electric  current  is  set  up  by 
which  the  degree  of  heat  may  be  measured.  Fire  ends 
are  of  two  general  kinds.  One  kind  is  known  as  the  "  rare 
metal "  thermocouple  and  is  used  for  the  high  temper- 
atures between  1,800  and  3,000  deg.  F.  The  other  kind 
is  known  as  the  "  base  metal "  thermocouple  and  is  made 
of  more  common  and  less  expensive  material,  which, 
however,  will  not  do  for  continuous  service  over  2,000 
deg.  F. 

The  fire  ends  of  thermocouple  pyrometers  are  protected 
by  sheaths  of  various  materials,  according  to  the  service 
and  the  degree  of  heat.  Porcelain  tubes  are  used  for 
the  highest  temperatures,  In  a  lead  bath  an  iron  sheath 
or  seamless-steel  tube  is  used  with  a  nickel-plated  envelope 
above  the  surface  of  the  metal  to  protect  against  vapors. 
Firebrick  tubes  are  sometimes  used  for  annealing  fur- 
naces, and  graphite  or  clay  tubes  are  used  for  measur- 
ing melted-metal  temperatures.  The  protecting  tubes 
should  project  into  the  furnace  or  the  melted  metal  at 
least  six  inches. 

AT  THE  OTHER  END  OF  THE  WIRES 

Two  kinds  of  instruments  are  connected  to  the  fire 
ends  of  either  of  the  foregoing  types — -indicators,  which 
indicate  temperature,  and  recorders,  which  make  a  con- 
tinuous graphical  record  similar  to  that  made  by  a  record- 
ing pressure  gage  or  recording  wattmeter.  An  instrument 
of  each  kind  may  be  attached  to  the  same  fire  end  and 
will  register  its  temperature  simultaneously,  one  indi- 
.cating  and  the  other  recording.  Again  a  number  of  fire 
ends  in  various  furnaces  may  be  attached  to  the  same 
indicator  and  recorder  by  means  of  suitable  switches,  so 
that  one  fire  end  at  a  time  can  be  switched  on  the  instru- 
ment, thus  letting  it  take  care  of  several  furnaces,  but  of 
course  only  one  at  a  time.  Usually  the  indicator  is 
placed  so  as  to  be  easily  seen  by  the  furnace  tender;  while 
the  recorder,  which  is  a  more  delicate  and  expensive 
instrument,  is  mounted  in  the  office  or  in  a  protecting 
cabinet. 

The  average  small-shop  man  can  get  along  without  the 
recorder.  A  good  base-metal  indicating  outfit  can  be 
bought  for  from  $25  to  $50.  Additional  base-metal  fire 
ends  will  cost  from  $3  to  $8  each.  Eare-metal  fire  ends  are 
four  or  five  times  as  expensive.  Fortunately,  for  most 
shop  use  the  ba'se-metal  fire  end  will  serve,  leaving  the 
more  expensive  kind  for  the  foundry,  which  can  quickly 
make  up  its  cost  by  rapping  the  patterns  a  little  harder! 

MAKING  THE  SHOP  PYROMETER  BEHAVE 
Even  the  ordinary  mercury  thermometer,  on  which  we 
base  our  opinions  of  the  climate,  is  likely  to  err.  So  it 
must  not  be  supposed  that  a  pyrometer,  which  is  subject 
to  such  a  high  limit  of  temperature,  will  do  its  work  day 
after  day  without  attention.  Portable  pyrometers  which 
are  used  occasionally  do  not  change  very  quickly,  but 
those  which  are  subject  to  constant  heat  must  be  looked 
after  at  regular  intervals. 

Nine  times  out  of  ten  when  there  is  anything  the  mat- 
ter with  a  pyrometer,  it  is  in  the  fire  end.  It  may  be 
due  to  a  faulty  connection  at  the  end  of  the  couple  where 
the  instrument  leads  are  attached,  or  to  too  hot  a  "  cold 
end,"  but  it  is  much  more  apt  to  be  because  heat  and 
gases  have  affected  the  "  hot  end." 

The  prices  of  base-metal  fire  ends  are  so  reasonable 
that  the  small-shop  man  can  afford  to  have  a  half-dozen 


of  them  in  stock,  keeping  one  as  a  reference  with  which 
to  check  up  the  accuracy  of  those  which  are  in  daily  use. 
Checking  consists  simply  in  connecting  the  two  fire  ends 
to  the  same  source  of  heat  and  to  the  same  indicator  with 
a  double-throw  switch  on  the  circuit  so  that  alternate 
readings  may  be  taken  on  each  fire  end  with  the  same 
indicator.  Of  course  the  readings  should  be  the  same; 
but  if  there  is  any  difference,  the  correction  can  be  made. 
Fire  ends  which  are  in  constant  use  at  a  temperature  of 
1,500  deg.  F.  should  be  tested  once  a  week,  and  those 
which  are  subject  to  a  constant  temperature  of  over  1,500 
deg.  should  be  tested  daily  if  accurate  readings  are  desired. 
If  out  over  20  deg.,  the  fire  end  should  be  annealed  from 
one  to  five  hours  at  a  temperature  of  1,472  deg.  and  then 
retested. 

Another  way  of  checking  up  thermocouple  pyrometers 
is  by  the  use  of  what  are  called  "  sentinel  pyrometers." 
These  are  small  cylinders  approximately  Vfe  to  %  in. 
which  melt  at  different  temperatures  ranging  from  400 
to  2,400  deg.  F.  Below  932  deg.  they  are  inclosed  in 
glass  tubes  so  that  they  may  be  used  over  and  over  again. 
The  higher-temperature  sentinels  are  set  in  porcelain 
saucers  and  .are  also  used  repeatedly,  being  caught  in 
the  saucer  when  melted.  Placing  a  number  of  these  in 
the  furnace  with  the  pyrometer,  watching  when  they  melt 
and  noting  the  indicator  reading  at  the  same  time  will 
give  a  very  good  check  on  the  accuracy  of  the  pyrometer. 

There  are  other  methods  of  checking  thermocouple 
pyrometers,  one  of  them  being  by  the  melting  or  freezing 
points  of  metals  such  as  tin,  lead,  zinc,  aluminum,  salt 
and  copper;  however,  for  the  small  shop  the  sentinel 
pyrometers  are  more  convenient  and  likely  to  give  more 
accurate  results. 

TAKING  CARE  OF  THE  COLD  END 

The  amount  of  current  flowing  is  determined  by  the 
difference  in  the  temperature  between  the  hot  end  and 
the  cold  end,  which  latter  is  kept  at  a  certain  average 
temperature,  or  else  corrections  are  made  for  any  differ- 
ences in  temperature  above  or  below  that  for  which  the 
cold  end  is  set.  There  are  various  ways  of  taking  care 
of  the  cold  end  of  a  thermocouple  pyrometer.  One  of 
these,  practiced  by  the  Bristol  Co.,  is  to  make  the  thermo- 
couple element  long  enough  so  that  the  cold  end  is 
extended  outside  of  the  furnace  down  near  the  floor 
level,  where  the  temperature  does  not  vary  a  great  deal. 
The  Hoskins  Co.  in  some  cases  recommends  the  use  of 
a  water-cooled  cold  end,  and  instruments  of  other  concerns 
provide  a  compensator  for  adjusting  for  differences  of 
temperature  at  the  indicator.  A  fairly  good  way  is  to 
bury  the  cold  end  under  ground.  Don't  have  it  where  a 
draft  of  cold  air  is  likely  to  blow  on  it.  Don't  locate  it 
so  that  heat  from  the  furnace  or  melting  pot  will  be  able 
to  affect  its  temperature.  A  little  care  about  these  things 
will  save  "  cuss "  words  later  on. 

The  small-shop  man  who  uses  the  same  amount  of  intel- 
ligence with  his  pyrometer  that  he  does  with  his  microme- 
ter will  find  it  the  means  of  getting  uniform  heat 
results  which  will  better  his  product.  He  will  not  have 
much  trouble  keeping  the  appliance  in  good  working 
shape.  He  will  find  it  accurate,  reliable  and  long-lived  — 
unless  he  does  as  they  tell  of  one  pyrometer  purchaser, 
who  stuck  the  indicator  in  the  furnace  and  tried  to  get 
the  fire-end  sheath  off  so  he  could  read  the  "  dommed 
thaymometer  "  inside ! 


(40) 


Painting  Small-Shop  Products — I 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  This  article  is  one  of  a  number  that 
will  deal  with  methods  of  painting  and  finishing 
products  made  in  the  small  shop.  In  this  issue  the 
desirability  of  good  finish  is  described,  and  points 
are  given  on  the  selection  of  colors  and  the  prepara- 
tion of  castings. 

':  If  you  wish  to  enjoy  a  funny  show  at  the  theater,  don't 
let  an  optimist  tell  you  about  it  in  advance." 

Dave  Hope  was  responsible  for  this  bit  of  wisdom,  and 
said  that  it  is  human  nature  to  like  an  agreeable  surprise 
not  only  in  matters  of  pleasure,  but  also  in  business. 
Rather  a  funny  way  for  him  to  answer  my  question  about 
painting  and  finishing  small-shop  products,  I  thought  at 
first,  but  changed  my  mind  after  he  went  a  bit  farther 
into  the  matter  and  related  a  personal  experience. 

"Did  you  ever  have  a  real  swell  salesman  call  on  you," 
he  asked,  laying  aside  his  surface  gage ;  "  one  of  the  kind 
that  wears  patent-leather  shoes  and  gray  spats,  fuzzy 
green  hats  and  diamond  scarf-pins? 

"  About  a  month  ago  I  was  in  the  market  for  a  new 
machine,  and  one  of  these  birds  flew  in  to  answer  my 
inquiry.  He  didn't  have  to  announce  himself,  for  his 
clothes  were  loud  enough  to  speak  for  themselves.  Before 
I  had  time  to  recover  from  the  shock,  he  pulled  out  a 
leather  cigar  case,  offered  me  a  Ruy  Elegancia  and  insisted 
that  I  take  dinner  with  him  at  the  Castor  House. 

AN  ELABORATE  CATALOG  IN  EMBOSSED  LEATHER 
"  After  we  had  eaten  about  four  dollars'  worth,  and 
the  waiter  had  made  off  with  the  remains  of  the  fivespot, 
my  fancy  friend  got  down  to  business.  He  pulled  out  an 
elaborate  catalog  bound  in  embossed  leather  and  began 
to  show  me  the  pictures.  First  was  a  bird's-eye  view  of 
the  factory,  and  over  the  page  a  front  elevation  of  the 
executive  offices,  with  gardens  and  automobiles  attrac- 
tively arranged  in  the  foreground.  On  another  page  was 
the  interior  of  the  president's  private  office,  done  in 
mahogany  with  tapestry  hangings.  After  I  had  suffi- 
ciently admired  this  elegance,  he  turned  to  the  secretary's 
sanctum,  the  stenographer's  studio  and  the  directors' 
room.  Next  he  called  attention  to  the  designing  depart- 
ment and  engineering  office,  each  the  last  word  in  finish 
and  equipment.  Coming  to  the  factory,  he  pointed  out 
the  recreation  and  lunch  rooms  and  also  the  first-aid 
department,  with  its  white-enameled  furniture  and  its 
white-upholstered  attendants.  A  few  more  pages  brought 
us  to  the  chemical  and  physical  laboratories,  with  bottles 
and  test-tubes  and  ovens  and  thermometers  arranged  for 
100  per  cent,  efficiency.  Next  came  some  elegant  views 
of  the  foundry  and  various  shop  departments,  the  latter 
having  individual  motor  drive  and  electric  transportation 
trucks. 

"  Finally  we  got  to  the  last  part  of  the  book,  where  it 
said  a  few  words  about  what  they  made  in  the  plant;  but 
the  poor  fellow  was  all  tired  out  by  this  time,  so  that  I 
had  to  pick  out  the  machine  I  wanted  and  sell  it  to  my- 
self. 

"  Two  days  later  I  received  an  engraved  card  thanking 
me  for  the  order  and  promising  shipment  within  three 


weeks.  Ten  days  after  that  the  shipping  bill  arrived,  and 
along  with  it  was  a  book  of  instructions  about  operating 
and  taking  care  of  the  machine.  That  book  was  a  work  of 
art,  printed  in  three  colors  and  containing  some  of  the 
slickest  pictures  you  ever  saw.  Mrs.  Hope  made  me  keep 
it  on  the  parlor  table. 

"  I  could  hardly  wait  to  get  the  machine  from  the  freight 
house  and  rip  off  the  crate  and  packing  paper  to  see  the 
slick  piece  of  work  that  such  an  uptodate  and  enterprising 
firm  must  have  produced. 

FEELING  LIKE  A  NICKEL'S  WORTH  OF  RADIUM 

"  Say,  you  could  have  swapped  me  for  a  nickel's  worth 
of  radium  when  I  saw  that  machine.  Foundry  sand  was 
sticking  to  it  here  and  there;  and  from  the  looks  of  the 
sloppy  single  coat  of  machine-gray  paint,  a  bush-league 
painter's  apprentice  must  have  thrown  a  brushful  of  paint 
at  the  thing  from  center  field,  and  almost  missed  the 
mark  at  that. 

"  I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  firm,  asking  them  if  that  was 
the  regular  finish  on  their  machine,  and  this  is  what  I 
got  in  reply,"  exclaimed  Dave,  fishing  a  letter  out  of  his 
pocket : 

Dear  Sir  —  In  reply  to  yours  of  Jan.  6,  with  reference  to  the 
finish  on  machine  shipped  on  your  order  No.  776  beg  to  state 
that  this  is  our  regular  finish. 

Our  policy  in  this  respect  is  to  embody  the  highest  me- 
chanical skill  in  building  these  machines;  and  since  fancy 
painting  will  not  make  it  operate  any  better  we  prefer  not  to 
sacrifice  quality  for  looks  and  therefore  keep  down  expense  on 
this  less  important  feature.  Yours  very  truly, 

BLANK  MACHINE  WORKS. 

"  And  here  is  my  reply,"  said  Dave,  handing  me  the  fol- 
lowing letter: 

Gentlemen- — I  have  noted  what  you  say  with  regard  to  flnish,- 
ing  your  machines. 

I  am  not  a  stickler  for  style,  but  if  a  man  whom  I  know 
to  be  In  comfortable  circumstances  pays  a  call  at  my  house 
dressed  like  a  dilapidated  hobo,  with  dirty  face  and  hands,  he 
won't  get  any  farther  than  the  kitchen  steps,  no  matter  how 
many  engraved  advance  calling  cards  he  has  sent  me. 

I  take  as  much  pride  in  my  shop  as  I  do  in  my  home ;  and 
while  your  machine  has  good  working  qualities,  its  poor  finish 
has  caused  me  to  install  it  in  a  dark  corner  where  I  hope  no 
visitors  will  see  it.  Yours  very  truly,  DAVID  HOPE. 

EFFICIENCY  HAS  NOT  ELIMINATED  HUMAN  NATURE 

A  few  large  shops  have  built  up  purchasing  organiza- 
tions that  can  lay  aside  all  thought  of  anything  except  the 
ultimate  dividend-earning  capacity  of  a  proposed  pur- 
chase. They  don't  care  whether  a  machine  is  pink,  green 
yellow  or  black,  as  long  as  it  will  operate  with  a  certain 
guaranteed  efficiency  on  a  certain  product  for  a  certain 
number  of  days  in  the  year.  Those  who  build  things  that 
are  bought  only  by  such  concerns  do  not  need  to  add  fine 
finish  as  a  selling  point.  But  remember,  where  there  is 
one  purchaser  who  comes  in  this  class,  there  are  nine  hun- 
dred and  ninety-nine  others  not  so  far  advanced,  who 
look  upon  the  purchase  of  each  machine  as  a  red-letter 
event  —  something  to  be  thought  about  a  long  time  in 
advance  and  admired  for  a  long  while  afterward.  Give  a 
man  of  this  type  an  article  that  he  can  be  proud  to  show 
as  well  as  to  use,  and  he  will  go  out  of  his  way  to  boost  it. 

Science  has  done  a  good  deal  during  the  past  few  years, 
but  it  hasn't  succeeded  as  yet  in  making  a  silk  purse  out 


(41) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


of  a  sow's  ear  nor  a  well-finished  machine  —  a  durably 
finished  one  —  from  poor  castings.  Holes  can  be  plugged 
with  filler,  and  foundry  sand  covered  with  pigment  until 
the  surface  is  perfect  to  all  appearances;  but  by  and  by 
a  spot  will  scale  off  here  and  there,  taking  with  it  as  many 
coats  as  have  been  applied  and  transforming  an  attractive 
machine  into  an  imitation  of  a  mangy  dog. 

The  small-shop  man  as  a  rule  buys  his  castings  and  is 
thus  in  a  good  position  to  pick  and  choose,  much  better 
than  the  man  who  operates  his  own  foundry  and  who  is 
tempted  to  use  anything  therein  made  that  has  a  faint 
resemblance  to  the  original  pattern.  In  buying  castings, 
usually  from  a  large  jobbing  foundry,  it  is  possible  to 
insist  upon  and  to  get  good,  clean,  smooth  castings.  If 
the  people  you  deal  with  can't  give  you  satisfactory  cast- 
ings at  the  right  price,  try  someone  else  —  sticking  to  one 
thing  isn't  always  a  virtue,  as  the  fly  remarked  to  the 
fly-paper.  Therefore  if  you  are  aiming  at  quality  finish, 
make  sure  of  a  fair  start  toward  it  in  the  matter  of  cast- 
ings and  have  them  sand-blasted. 

Sand-blasting  makes  the  best  surface  for  paint  or 
enamel  that  can  be  had.  The  small  shop  with  a  sand- 
blast apparatus  is  an  exception,  and  I  should  not  advise 
installing  one  in  such  a  shop  unless  conditions  are  quite 
unusual  and  there  are  a  number  of  other  profitable  uses 
for  compressed  air.  But  the  jobbing  foundry  of  any  size 
that  has  no  sand-blast  apparatus  is  also  an  exception,  and 
thus  the  small-shop  man  may  have  sand-blast  cleaned  cast- 
ings if  he  calls  for  them. 

GETTING  PICKLED  HAS  ITS  DISADVANTAGE 
Some  shops  get  clean  castings  by  pickling  them  in  an 
acid  dip.  The  solution  that  is  most  commonly  used  for 
cast  iron  is  one  part  of  the  commercial  sulphuric  acid  to 
eight  parts  of  water.  Pickling  will  remove  the  scale  and 
sand,  but  has  the  disadvantage  that  some  of  the  solution 
may  remain  in  the  pores  of  the  casting,  resulting  in  the 
painted  surface  flaking  off  in  such  places.  It  is  not 
enough  to  wash  the  pickled  casting  in  water  if  this  catas- 
trophe is  to  be  prevented;  the  acid  must  be  neutralized 
by  an  alkaline  solution  such  as  sal  soda  dissolved  in  water 
in  the  proportion  of  J/2  Ib.  to  the  gallon,  preferably  kept 
and  applied  hot.  This  in  turn  must  be  washed  from  the 
piece  with  water,  alkali  not  being  any  more  friendly 
toward  paint  than  it  is  toward  oil  or  grease  or  acids. 

Assuming  that  the  small-shop  man  has  by  hook  or 
crook,  luck,  sand-blast  or  pickle  secured  a  fair  start 
toward  a  fine  finish  by  getting  smooth,  clean  material, 
what  further  steps  he  must  take  will  depend  on  whether 
he  is  going  to  brush,  dip  or  spray;  whether  the  finish  is 
to  be  dull,  semi-gloss  or  full  gloss;  whether  it  is  to  be  air 
dried  or  baked,  and  somewhat  upon  the  color. 

COLOR  AFFECTS  THE  SALE  OF  MACHINES 
Color  is  a  more  important  thing  than  a  great  many 
imagine,  as  applied  to  machine  finishing.  A  pea-green 
lathe  or  a  bright-yellow  miller  would  have  small  chance 
of  leaving  a  jobber's  display  floor,  whereas  these  same 
bright  colors  are  favorable  to  disposing  of  hand  pumps 
and  farm  tools.  Black  is  the  color  of  dignity ;  the  machine 
shop  must  be  a  dignified  place,  judging  by  the  color  of  its 
equipment  —  if  you  find  it  too  oppressive,  take  a  walk 
into  the  engine  room  and  have  a  look  at  the  frivolous  red 
engine. 

The  choice  of  color  that  will  make  an  article  salable  is 
far  from  being  simply  a  matter  of  good  taste.  It  really 


calls  for  a  mixture  of  genius  and  a  deep  knowledge  of 
psychology,  diluted  with  considerable  good  luck.  It  is 
easier  to  tell  what  not  to  do  in  this  matter  than  to  say 
what  should  be  done.  For  one  thing,  do  not  depart  too 
widely  from  what  has  been  more  or  less  accepted  as  gen- 
eral practice  for  the  product.  Make  it  similar,  but  better. 
A  pioneer  in  the  choice  of  colors  has  a  liard  row  to  hoe. 
When  in  doubt,  paint  it  black,  for  this  color  in  paint  as 
well  as  in  clothes  is  suitable  for  all  occasions. 

GREEN  AND  YELLOW  BRINGING  HOME  THE  BACON 

The  painting  of  articles  for  export  is  an  art  in  itself, 
especially  where  the  goods  go  to  tropical  countries.  This 
is  not  because  of  the  difficulty  in  getting  a  finish  that  will 
stand  the  heat,  but  of  getting  one  that  will  suit  the  natives. 
Having  at  various  times  been  connected  with  two  fac- 
tories making  quite  different  lines  of  mechanical  goods, 
both  of  which  had  large  sales  in  South  America,  I  am  in 
position  to  pass  out  a  bit  of  advice  that  is  the  result  of 
observation.  If  you  make  machines  for  this  trade,  paint 
them  bright  green  with  yellow  stripes  and  decorate  the 
larger  surfaces  liberally  with  florid  transfers;  then  you 
are  sure  to  make  a  killing.  This  may  sound  like  a  joke, 
and  in  fact  the  machine  thus  treated  looks  like  one;  but 
notwithstanding  this,  green  and  yellow  will  bring  home 
the  bacon  from  South  America. 

The  choice  between  dull  finish,  semi-gloss  and  full  gloss 
is  not  as  difficult  as  that  of  the  proper  color.  Size  has 
a  good  deal  to  do  with  this.  A  large  machine  or  sur- 
face looks  better  with  the  dull  finish,  largely  because  this 
tones  down  all  large  irregularities  or  waves  which  cannot 
be  corrected  by  applying  filler.  Semi-gloss,  or  eggshell, 
finish,  while  taking  considerable  skill  to  apply  properly, 
is  effective  for  medium-sized  machines  where  cast  iron 
is  the  main  material,  and  has  the  advantage  of  not  show- 
ing splotches  of  oil.  Full  gloss,  or  enamel,  finish  is  most 
effective  on  small  articles  such  as  may  be  made  part  of  a 
machinery  jobber's  window  display;  when  well  executed, 
this  finish  will  help  to  attract  the  eye  of  a  possible  cus- 
tomer. 

FINE  FINISH  MUST  BE  CONSISTENT 

To  be  really  fine,  the  finish  selected  must  be  consistent 
with  the  use  of  the  machine  or  part,  in  other  words  must 
serve  some  purpose  aside  from  mere  decoration.  It  is 
disappointing,  to  say  the  least,  to  buy  an  engine  or  pump 
attractively  painted  and  then  have  its  color  darken  and 
turn  dead  and  muddy  when  the  thing  is  subjected  to  its 
working  heat.  Nor  is  it  altogether  pleasing  to  have  a 
tool  that  is  meant  to  be  handled  shed  its  coat  like  a  locust. 
Japan  and  baked  enamel  finishes  have  reasons  for  iise 
other  than  to  simply  give  the  article  a  shiny  appearance. 
Resistance  to  heat  and  resistance  to  handling  are  among 
the  reasons  for  the  employment  of  these  more  durable 
finishes,  which,  it  will  be  found,  are  not  beyond  the  reach 
even  of  small  shops. 

Protection  against  rust  is  one  reason  for  painting  those 
parts  of  machines  that  do  not  show  —  here  the  ornamental 
side  is  forgotten  altogether  and  the  purpose  becomes 
strictly  utilitarian.  The  interior  of  oil  chambers  of  bear- 
ings are  painted  with  another  purpose  in  view  —  to  keep 
sand  from  the  cast  surfaces  from  dropping  into  the  oil 
and  thus  damaging:  the  bearing.  A  paint  mads  of  red 
lead  and  linseed  oil  is  best  for  this  purpose,  not  being 
softened  by  lubricating  oils. 


(42) 


Painting  Small-Shop  Products — II 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  Brush  painting  and  air  drying  of 
the  painted  articles  comprise  the  process  most  com- 
mon in  the  small  shop.  This  article  describes 
various  methods  of  applying  filler,  flat  finish, 
semigloss  and  full  gloss.  It  also  gives  practical 
points  in  caring  for  brushes  and  securing  freedom 
from  dust. 

There  is  an  unfortunate  and  very  general  tendency  to 
use  paint  as  a  means  of  covering  up  defects  instead  of 
regarding  it  as  a  means  of  emphasizing  high-quality 
workmanship.  A  manufacturer  of  small  hardware,  for 
example,  will  tolerate  sandy  castings,  with  the  expectation 
that  Old  Doctor  Paint  will  apply  his  universal  remedy 
for  rough  surfaces  and  make  a  healthy  specimen  out  of 
each  decrepit  invalid.  Wrinkled  and  scratched  products 
of  the  drawing  press  get  by,  in  the  hope  that  they  will 
become  respectable  and  presentable  beneath  a  few  coats 
of  black  japan.  Certain  products  of  the  woodturner's; 
art  (or,  rather,  lack  of  it)  go  into  the  dipping  tanks 
fringed  with  wooden  whiskers  that  must  be  rubbed  off 
by  the  painter,  who  is  thus  forced  to  add  the  profession 
of  barber  to  his  other  accomplishments.  This  policy  has 
made  machinery  painting  much  more  expensive  than  it 
needs  to  be,  because  both  painter  and  paint  must  do  work 
that  has  been  left  undone  by  someone  else.  They  are  the 
ultimate  correctors  of  all  the  sloppy  jobs  that  go  through 
the  shop. 

How  much  more  does  it  cost  to  produce  a  smooth 
casting  in  the  foundry  than  to  make  it  smooth  in  the 
paint  department?  Balance  the  cost  of  good  facing  and 
a  few  moments'  slicking  of  the  mold  against  the  cost  of 
knifing  on  two  coats  of  filler  and  currying  them  with 
sandpaper  and  rubbing  bricks.  How  much  longer  does 
it  take  to  get  smooth  products  from  the  drawing  press 
than  scratched  and  wrinkled  ones?  How  much  longer 
does  it  take  to  sandpaper  wood  turnings  in  a  tumbling 
barrel  before  they  are  painted  than  to  rub  down  the  irregu- 
larities after  the  first  coat?  Getting  these  things  right 
in  the  first  place  costs  less  in  money,  but  more  in  care  — 
which  is  a  scarce  article  in  a  good  many  shops. 

WHAT  CONSTITUTES  A  PAINTING  DEPARTMENT 

A  small-shop  painting  department  may  be  a  simple 
or  an  elaborate  affair,  according  to  its  needs.  But  to  be 
a  success,  it  must  be  regarded,  as  a  real  department,  even 
if  the  equipment  consists  only  of  a  putty  knife,  two 
brushes  and  a  few  cans  of  paint.  It  must  be  regarded  as 
an  institution  worthy  of  existing  for  what  it  does,  and 
not  as  a  nece&sary  but  unpleasant  evil.  And  for  the  same 
reason,  the  work  of  painting  should  be  done  by  the  same 
man,  even  if  there  is  not  enough  of  it  to  keep  one  man 
continually  busy.  This  is  the  only  way  that  real  interest 
in  the  work  can  be  created  and  maintained,  and  interest 
is  as  essential  a  part  as  is  the  paint  can  or  the  brush. 

One  of  the  greatest  handicaps  to  a  good  painted  finish 
is  dust.  A  machine  shop  is  sure  to  have  plenty  of  it  on 
hand  at  all  times,  no  matter  what  other  commodity  is 
short.  Fresh  paint  and  varnish  seem  to  attract  it  as  a 
magnet  draws  iron  filings,  with  the  difference  that  the 


filings  can  be  removed,  but  the  dust  cannot.  It  sticks,  and 
spoils  the  finish. 

There  are  two  ways  of  overcoming  the  dust  disadvan- 
tage, both  of  them  based  on  not  letting  it  get  on.  The 
easiest  and  most  common  way,  and  quite  naturally  the 
one  with  lesser  merit,  is  to  shorten  the  drying  time  by 
the  addition  of  drier,  so  that  the  period  in  which  dust  can 
settle  and  stick  is  decreased. 

The  second  and  better  way  is  to  have  a  separate  room 
for  painting,  at  least  for  the  final  coats.  Don't  throw 
up  your  hands  at  this  point,  Mr.  Small-Shop  Man  —  there 
are  more  ways  than  one  of  killing  a  cat  or  of  making  a 
paintroom.  I  have  known  small-shop  owners  with  offices 
that  were  more  ornamental  than  useful  who  moved  their 
desks  out  into  the  shop,  and  their  pails  and  brushes  into 
the  office,  with  beneficial  results  both  ways.  Sitting  in  an 
office  chair  does  not  buy  the  small-shop  baby  new  shoes, 
and  dust  works  less  injury  to  bills  payable  than  to  painted 
products. 

COMPROMISING  ON  A  CANVAS  CURTAIN 

In  one  shop,  where  it  was  felt  that  a  separate  room 
for  painting  could  not  be  provided  and  yet  the  necessity 
for  it  was  known,  a  satisfactory  compromise  was  made  by 
providing  a  canvas  curtain  that  partitioned  off  the 
assembling  floor  from  the  rest  of  the  shop.  The  curtain 
was  kept  rolled  up  until  required;  when  dropped  down 
while  painting  a  machine,  it  had  a  noticeable  effect  in 
decreasing  the  amount  of  dust. 

Dust  works  its  way  through  shop  ceilings;  and  when 
this  condition  must  be  avoided,  the  ceiling  may  be  either 
filled  and  painted,  thus  stopping  the  cracks  and  the  dust 
leakage,  or  it  may  be  covered  with  sheet  iron,  provided 
the  fire-inspection  regulations  will  permit. 

The  dust  which  settles  on  a  coat  of  paint  that  has  dried 
sufficiently  to  lose  the  quality  of  stickiness  should  be 
removed  before  the  next  coat  is  applied.  It  would  seem 
that  this  is  so  self-evident  as  to  be  hardly  worth  mention- 
ing, but  it  is  a  precaution  that  is  overlooked  in  many 
shops.  Compressed  air  is  the  best  dust  remover,  and  a 
hand  bellows  will  act  as  an  air  compressor  and  hose  com- 
bined in  the  shops  that  do  not  have  compressor  installa- 
tions. 

Much  could  be  said  on  the  subject  of  the  proper  size 
and  kind  of  paint  brush  to  use  for  a  given  purpose  and 
a  given  paint;  but  you  will  find  that  experienced  painters 
have  different  views  in  the  matter,  and  even  among  them 
there  is  little  agreement.  No  scientific  study  of  this 
subject  seems  to  have  been  made,  and  little,  except 
opinions,  can  be  offered.  There  is  one  thing,  however, 
that  is  beyond  contradiction  —  the  size  of  the  brush  should 
be  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  work.  By  size  is 
meant  paint-carrying  capacity.  An  oval  brush  will  carry 
more  paint  or  varnish  than  a  thin  flat  brush  that  is  wider 
in  dimension.  A  brush  is  really  a  paint  conveyor  working 
back  and  forth  between  the  pail  and  the  painted  surface, 
and  the  fewer  round  trips  that  it  must  make  to  cover  the 
job  the  higher  will  be  its  conveying  efficiency.  As  far  as 
helping  to  produce  a  smooth  finish,  the  brush  itself  is  of 
little  importance,  properly  dinred  work  being  as  excellent 
in  this  respect  as  the  most  skillfully  applied  brushwork. 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


The  matter  of  caring  for  brushes  has  been  much  more 
definitely  worked  out.  It  was  my  privilege  recently  to 
hear  the  views  of  Carl  J.  Schumann,  of  the  Moller  & 
Schumann  Co.,  Brooklyn,  on  this  and  other  points  relating 
to  metal  finishing.  In  the  matter  of  caring  for  brushes 
this  firm  has  evolved  what  it  calls  a  "brush  keeper," 
which  is  a  closed  metal  can  in  which  brushes  are  held 
suspended  in  a  solution  of  linseed  oil  and  turpentine. 
The  brushes  are  placed  in  this  can  after  being  properly 
cleaned  in  clear  turpentine.  Thus  they  are  kept  in  first- 
class  condition,  ready  for  use.  The  instructions  for  using 
this  device  are  as  follows : 

When  through  using  your  brushes,  rinse  them  thoroughly  in 
turpentine,  then  put  into  the  brush  keeper. 

In  the  brush  keeper  use  a  mixture  of  about  four-fifths  raw 
linseed  oil  and  one-fifth  turpentine.  As  the  oil  shows  signs  of 
thickening,  which  practically  means  that  the  turpentine  has 
evaporated,  add  more  turpentine. 

Empty  and  clean  out  the  keeper  at  least  once  a  month.  Strain 
the  contents  through  two  thicknesses  of  cheese  cloth  and  make 
good  any  deficiency  with  a  mixture  in  the  same  proportions  as  the 
original. 

When  brushes  hang  in  the  keeper,  make  sure  that  they  are 
at  least  1  in.  clear  of  the  bottom  and  also  clear  of  the  sides  and 
of  each  other. 

Rinse  the  brush  in  turpentine  after  taking  it  from  the  brush 
Keeper;  and  before  putting  it  into  the  varnish  cup,  discharge  the 
turpentine  from  the  brush  by  drawing  it  once  or  twice  across  the 
wire,  then  shaking  briskly. 

Fill  the  brush  with  the  varnish  in  the  cup,  draw  over  the  wire 
once  or  twice,  immerse  again  in  the  varnish  and  let  it  stand 
for  a  short  time.  The  brush  is  then  ready  for  use. 

Keep  the  varnish  cup  at  all  times  protected  from  dust. 

CLOSED  PAINT  CANS  ECONOMIZE  ON  MATERIAL 

Waste  and  evaporation  take  a  greater  percentage  of 
paint  in  the  small  shop  than  in  the  large  one.  A  can  of 
paint  may  be  used  one  day  and  then  set  away  for  a  week, 
often  without  being  tightly  covered.  This  is  especially 
true  of  those  cans  which  are  opened  by  cutting  the  top. 
A,  simple  cure  for  this  waste  is  at  hand  in  all  shops  and 
costs  nothing.  If  you  are  up  against  a  case  of  this  kind, 
put  a  sheet  of  paper  over  the  top  of  the  can,  fold  it  down 
over  the  sides  and  tie  a  string  around  it.  It  will  look  like 
an  old-fashioned  can  of  mother's  marmalade,  but  the  con- 
tents will  keep  indefinitely,  so  appearances  may  be  over- 
looked. 

The  customary  method  of  applying  filler  by  knifing 
it  on  the  casting  requires  a  fair  degree  of  skill  to  produce 
a  smooth  job.  A  better  way  in  the  small  shop  is  to  use 
the  ''  benzine  "  process,  which  is  as  follows :  The  filler  is 
first  reduced  with  turpentine  to  a  stiff  paste,  using  a  round 
brush.  A  second  and  a  third  coat  are  applied  in  the 
same  way,  before  the  first  coat  has  had  time  to  dry.  Three 
or  four  hours  are  then  allowed  for  the  filler  to  take  hold, 
after  which  it  is  rubbed  down  with  a  piece  of  heavy  felt- 
soaked  in  benzine. 

It  is  quite  a  common  belief  that  priming,  filling  and 
rubbing  are  essential  to  a  high-grade  finish.  Some 
machinery  builders  proclaim  in  their  catalogs  that  their 
machines  are  given  so  many  coats  of  filler  and  rubbed 
down  after  each  coat,  as  if  the  application  of  filler  and  the 
elbow  grease  necessary  to  rub  it  were  things  that  no  self- 
resrecting  high-grade  machine  could  do  without. 

If  the  notion  that  finish  is  a  covering  of  imperfections, 
as  mentioned  in  the  first  paragraph,  did  not  exist,  you 
would  hear  less  about  the  primer  and  filler.  Defective 
and  rough  surfaces  necessitate  filler,  and  this  in  turn 
calls  for  -primer  to  make  it  stick.  If  you  attempt  to  fill 
a  porous  surface  that  has  not  first  been  primed,  the 
result  will  be  disastrous,  as  the  binding  element  in  the 


filler  will  be  absorbed,  leaving  it  without  adhesive  power 
and  likely  to  flake  off,  carrying  with  it  whatever  paint 
and  varnish  have  been  applied.  Neither  primer-  nor  filler 
is  a  necessary  part  of  a  good  finish  —  neither  .  of  them 
adds  one  bit  to  its  quality.  Both  are  substitutes  for  a 
suitable  surface  on  which  to  apply  color  and  varnish. 
If  you  have  the  smooth  surface  to  start  with,  no  amount 
of  these  substitutes  will  better  the  finish;  in  fact,  they 
will  make  it  worse,  for  two  coats  will  very  often  stick 
better  than  six.  We  cannot  do  away  with  filler  and  primer 
on  many  kinds  of  work,  but  at  least  we  can  give  them 
their  proper  value  as  defect  and  roughness  coverers. 

THREE  CLASSES  OF  BRUSH  FINISH  FOR  MACHINES 

There  are,  omitting  black  asphaltum  and  other  more  or 
less  temporary  .coatings,  three  classes  of  brush  finishes  for 
machine  shop  products.  These  are  the  flat,  the  eggshell, 
or  semigloss,  and  the  full-gloss  finish.  The  suitability  of 
each  of  these  for  certain  classes  of  work  was  mentioned 
on  page  41,  in  •  the  preceding  article.  Priming  and  fill- 
ing, when  necessary,  are  the  same,  no  matter  which  of 
these  final  finishes  is  to  be  used  —  which  is  another  argu- 
ment for  regarding  priming  and  filling  as  restricted  to 
the  preparation  of  the  surface  for  finishing  and  not  as  a 
part  of  the  finishing  itself.  In  describing  these  three 
finishes  I  will  assume  that  this  preparatory  work  has  been 
completed  and  that  the  surface  is  ready  for  color. 

A  flat  finish  may  be  obtained  in  one  coat  of  color,  but 
it  will  not  be  anything  to  brag  about.  Two  coats,  however, 
will  produce  a  first-class,  flat-finished  job,  providing  the 
materials  used  are  of  good  quality.  Give  the  first  coat 
24  hr.  to  dry,  whenever  possible,  even  if  it  means  holding 
back  the  shipment  one  day  —  the  customer  won't  kick  if 
you  come  that  close  to  keeping  your  promised  date.  In 
this  connection  beware  of  paint  bargains. 

The  semigloss  finish  requires  more  skill  to  apply  and 
get  right  than-  either  of  the  others.  The  coat  underneath 
the  eggshell  or  semigloss  must  be  impervious,  as  other- 
wise the  soluble  matter  in  the  semigloss  is  absorbed  in 
spots  and  the  result  is  crude.  A  coat  of  full-gloss  enamel 
will  provide  the  necessary  surface  on  which  to.  put  the 
eggshell  finish,  but  it  must  be  allowed  to  dry  thoroughly 
before  this  finish  is  applied. 

Full  gloss  can*  be.  obtained  in  two  coats  of  enamel. 
Usually,  a  "  first-coat  enamel  "  and  a  "  finishing  enamel  " 
are  applied,  the  supposition  being  that  these  two  must  be 
of  different  composition  to  produce  the  best  results.  This 
is  another  of  those  wrong  guesses,  for  equally  good  results 
can  be  obtained  by  using  finishing  enamel  for  the  first 
coat,  thinning  or  reducing  it  with  turpentine.  It  does 
not  pay  the  small  shop  to  stock  first-  and  second-coat 
enamels,  the  wastage  and  extra  investment  more  than, 
making  up  for  the  slightly  greater  cost  of  the  finishing 
material. 

The  expense  of  applying  brush  finish  and  the  length  of 
time  required  to  air  dry  put  a  limit  to  the  number  of 
coats  that  can  be  applied  under  these  conditions.  A  first 
and  a  finishing  coat  of  good  quality  enamel  will  produce 
a  full-gloss  finish  that  will  reflect  credit  on  the  small-shop 
product,  unless  it  is  a  machine  of  such  high  grade  as  to 
require  a  number  of  coats,  with  each  one  rubbed.  When 
that  is  the  case,  however,  one  must  look  to  dipping  and 
oven  drying  for  means  of  shortening  the  time  and  labor, 
as  otherwise  the  shipment  of  small-shop  products  would 
be  sadly  delayed. 


(44) 


Painting  Small-Shop  Products — III 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS —  While  brush  painting  is  the  most 
common  process  of  finishing  small-shop  products, 
dip-tank  finishing  should  be  studied.  It  is  within 
the  reach  of  the  average  small  shop  and  saves  labor. 
The  use  of  dip  tanks  is  described  in  this  article, 
which  also  touches  on  oven  drying,  spraying,  and 
tumbling. 

Dip-tank  finishing  is  a  subject  that  the  small-shop  man 
'  needs  to  know  more  about.  Paint,  primer,  filler,  enamel, 
japan  and  varnish  can  be  dipped,  although  there  are  lim- 
itations coming  from  a  design  of  the  piece;  but  where 
this  process  can  be  employed,  it  not  only  saves  labor,  but 
is  likely  to  give  smoother  results. 

Work  that  contains  holes  or  recesses  from  which  the 
accumulated  paint  will  drip  upon  other  surfaces  is  not 
suitable  for  dipping.  An  example  of  this  is  shown  in 
Fig.  1  at  A,  in  which  the  cast-iron  stove  plate  has  a 
number  of  central  depressions.  If  it  is  dipped  and  then 


are  good  dipping  colors;  but  olive  green  is  a  bad  one, 
because  it  is  composed  of  different  pigments,  which  have 
a  tendency  to  separate  in  the  tank  and  give  streaky  effects. 

Small-shop  products  are  not,  as  a  rule,  large  or  com- 
plicated. Dipping  tanks  are  so  easily  made  that  there 
is  no  excuse  for  their  not  being  suitable  for  the  work. 
A  good  dip  tank  has  the  least  area  of  its  contents  exposed 
to  evaporation  and  also  contains  a  minimum  quantity  of 
paint.  The  evaporation  from  the  surface  of  a  dip  tank 
causes  considerable  loss  of  material  and  also  of  time  in 
keeping  the  solution  at  its  proper  consistency.  A  flat 
piece,  for  example,  may  be  dipped  either  in  a  shallow 
tank,  as  shown  at  B  in  Fig.  2,  or  in  a  deep,  narrow 
tank,  as  shown  at  C.  The  first  way  would  be  expensive 
in  paint;  although  the  first  cost  of  the  tank  would  be 
less,  evaporation  and  waste  would  soon  make  up  for  this. 
Steel  window  sashes  are  dipped  on  this  principle  in  tanks 
that  are  6  to  10  ft.  deep  and  only  a  few  inches  wide. 

When  a  tank  is  designed  to  present  the  least  surface 
area,  it  follows  that  the  minimum  amount  of  paint  for 


FIG.    1.     THE   SHAPE   OF  THE   PIECE   AND   THE    WAY   IT   IS  DIPPED  ARE   IMPORTANT  FACTORS 


allowed  to  drain,  drops  will  run  down  from  these  holes, 
and  the  result  will  be  a  smear.  Of  course,  it  is  possible 
to  touch  up  such  spots  with  a  brush,  but  this  "takes  away 
the  low  labor-cost  advantage  of  dipping.  It  is  much  bet- 
ter to  design  the  piece  with  this  point  in  mind  and  thus 
overcome  the  difficulty  without  cost. 

Sometimes  work  that  cannot  be  dipped  successfully  in 
one  position  may  be  made  to  turn  out  all  right  by  using 
a  little  commonsense.  An  example  of  this  is  shown  in 
Fig.  1  at  B  and  C.  Here  is  a  steel  plate  having  an  open- 
ing, not  at  the  center,  but  near  one  edge.  If  it  is  held 
and  dipped  in  the  position  shown  at  B,  the  result  will  be 
even  worse  than  in  the  foregoing  case;  but  by  turning 
this  piece  around,  as  shown  at  C,  one  stroke  of  the  brush 
will  remove  the  drip  between  the  recess  and  the  edge  of 
the  plate. 

In  addition  to  the  restrictions  coming  from  the  design 
or  shape  of  the  piece  there  are  certain  points  to  consider 
about  the  color  to  be  used.  Black,  bright  red  and  blue 


successfully  operating  the  tank  is  also  reduced  in  propor- 
tion. Thus  these  two  principles  of  good  design  for  dip 
tanks  are  both  obtained  by  simply  trying  to  live  up  to- 
one  of  them. 

Many  small-shop  products  may  be  dipped  in  tanks 
that  are  no  larger  than  ordinary  cooking  utensils  or 
paint  pails.  Such  small  pieces  are  dipped  by  hand,  then 
placed  on  one  edge  on  boards  to  dry.  When  the  pieces 
become  larger,  mechanical  handling  is  necessary.  This 
fact  restricts  the  process  on  large  work  to  shops  in  which 
the  production  is  great  enough  to  call  for  the  equipment 
and  room  required.  An  overhead  monorail  trolley  is 
usually  found  in  such  a  dip-finishing  room.  It  is  broken 
over  the  tanks,  the  short  broken  section  being  provided 
with  means  for  raising  and  lowering,  so  that  the  piece 
may  be  run  onto  this  section,  be  dipped,  raised  again  and 
run  off  without  undue  loss  of  time.  After  dipping,  it 
must  be  allowed  to  drain,  so  that  the  surplus  paint,  which 
is  worth  saving,  comes  back  to  the  tank. 


(45) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PEOFITABLE 


Some  automobile  manufacturers  paint  their  wheels  by 
dipping,  then  get  rid  of  the  surplus  paint  by  rotating 
them.  Centrifugal  force  throws  the  paint  back  into  the 
tank.  Such  complicated  apparatus  is  out  of  the  question 
for  the  small  shop,  but  the  centrifugal  principle  may  be 
applied  on  smaller  pieces  without  much  elaborate  machin- 
ery, and  with  good  results.  It  is  a  thing  that  is  worth 
remembering. 

One  of  the  problems  in  connection  with  dipping  is  to 
keep  paint  from  getting  where  it  is  not  wanted.  This 
requirement  restricts  the  use  of  the  dip  process,  especially 
on  work  that  has  a  number  of  finished  surfaces  or  holes. 
There  are  ways  of  getting  around  this  point.  Whether 
it  is  economical  to  use  these  expedients  or  not  depends 
upon  whether  the  time  needed  for  using  them  plus  the 
time  of  dipping  will  be  less  than  the  time  of  brushing. 

Wooden  plugs  are  often  used  to  keep  paint  out  of 
Tioles.  Melted  paraffin  run  over  finished  surfaces  will 
keep  them  free  from  paint,  but  it  must  be  removed  by 
heating  the  article  after  the  paint  is  dry.  This  scheme 
«an  be  used  only  with  air-drying  paints,  for  if  parts  with 


A 

FIG.     2. 


THE     DIPPING     TANK     MUST     BE     DESIGNED     ON 
DEFINITE    LINES 


paraffined  surfaces  were  put  into  an  enameling  oven,  the 
wax  would  melt  and  run  down  and  form  a  new  and  unde- 
sirable kind  of  finish.  Hollow  work,  on  which  it  is 
desired  to  keep  paint  from  the  interior,  may  be  dipped 
•with  a  closed  end  down,  not  being  entirely  submerged. 
After  the  piece  is  withdrawn  from  the  dip  tank,  it  is 
turned  end  for  end  so  that  the  drip  is  downward  toward 
the  unpainted  end,  which  is  covered  by  a  few  strokes  of 
the  brush.  There  are  hundreds  of  such  expedients  that 
may  be  used  and  that  require  only  a  little  ingenuity  and 
planning  in  advance. 

A  kink  in  connection  with  dipping  has  to  do  with 
obtaining  a  tag  that  will  go  through  the  dip  tank  without 
having  its  characters  obscured  by  the  paint.  This  prob- 
lem presented  difficulty  to  a  manufacturer  of  small  hand 
pumps  and  resulted  in  loss  of  time,  because  it  was  neces- 
sary for  the  man  at  the  tank  to  remove  each  tag  and 
fasten  it  on  again  after  dipping.  This  trouble  was 
overcome  by  the  means  shown  in  Fig.  3,  which  represents 
the  product  of  a  stencil-cutting  machine.  There  is  noth- 
ing about  such  a  tag  to  become  obscured  in  the  dip. 

The  difference  between  air  and  oven  drying  is  only 
a  question  of  the  degree  of  heat  and  the  length  of  time 


required.  No  doubt,  an  enamel  finish-dried  in  the  air 
for  several  months  would  be  as  hard  to  remove  from  the 
surface  on  which  it  was  put  as  one  that  had  been  baked 
for  a  few  hours  in  a  drying  oven.  Ovens  are  therefore  a 
means  of  hastening  the  process  of  securing  a  hard,  dur- 
able finish.  They  are  not  complicated,  and  the  tempera- 
tures do  not  run  very  high,  600  deg.  F.  being  about 
the  limit.  As  far  as  the  small  shop  is  concerned,  there 
is  nothing  complicated  about  the  process  of  baking -enamel 
or  japan.  The  only  question  is  whether  the  quantity  of 
pieces  is  sufficient  to  warrant  the  expense  of  the  labor  of 
handling  them  back  and  forth  from  the  ovens. 

Black  japan,  which  one  finds  on  typewriters,  business 
phonographs,  adding  machines  and  a  similar  class  of  work, 
is  one  of  the  most  durable  and  oil-resisting  finishes  that 
can  be  put  upon  metal.  The  finish  secured  with  it  varies 
from  the  plain  two-coat  finish  for  small  and  cheap  arti- 
cles to  the  seven  and  ten  coats  used  on  the  higher-grade 
machines.  On  this  fine  class  of  work,  each  coat  after  being 
baked  is  sanded,  or  rubbed  with  pumice,  and  often  on  work 
that  has  been  stripped  or  gilded  a  protecting  coat  or  coats 
of  varnish  are  applied  and  baked. 

Japan  finish  is  always  black,  but  colors  are  obtained 
by  the  use  of  enamels  that  are  baked  in  the  same  way. 
The  number  of  coats  for  enamel  finish  varies  with  the 
quality  of  the  work,  but  a  very  respectable  job  can  be 
obtained  with  two  coats.  I  recently  saw  a  test  piece 


FIG.     3. 


PERFORATED    TAGS    ARE    NOT    DEFACED 
IN  DIPPING 


finished  in  two  coats  of  enamel  of  ordinary  quality.  It 
had  been  submersed  in  kerosene  oil  for  two  years  and 
showed  no  signs  of  softening. 

Spraying  is  an  ideal  method  of  putting  paint  upon 
most  surfaces,  large  or  small.  In  small  shops  the  lack 
of  conmressed  air  usually  settles  the  matter  at  once  and 
decisively.  There  are  certain  shops,  however,  which  are 
small  and  yet  have  air  compressors,  and  there  are  others 
in  which  the  present  method  of  finishing  products  would 
make  it  a  paying  proposition  to  install  a  small  compressor 
such  as  is  required  for  this  class  of  work.  Pressures  as 
low  as  14  Ib.  to  the  square  inch  are  used,  and  as  high  as 
80,  painting.  of  course,  going  more  quickly  with  the  higher 
pressure.  Filler,  color  and  varnish  can  all  be  sprayed, 
but  the  consistency  must  be  fixed  so  that  the  nozzle  does 
not  clog  and  raint  does  not  run  in  waves  on  the  work. 
It  does  not  pay  to  snray  work  in  which  a  large  part 
is  comnosed  of  open  spaces  —  for  example,  bicycle  wheels 
and  wire. 

Tumbling  is  suitable  for  small  work  that  is  to  be 
japanned,  where  the  quantities  contained  in  the  batch 
may  vary  from  five  hundred  to  fifty  thousand  pieces. 
Shoe  buttons  are  nn  excellent  example  of  this  class  of 
work,  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  coat  evenly,  uniformly 
and  as  cheanly  by  any  other  method.  After  being  tumbled 
for  a  certain  length  of  time  in  connection  with  an  amount 
of  Japan  sufficient  for  the  batch,  the  contents  of  the 
tumbling  barrel  are  put  on  wire-mesh  screens  and  baked 
in  an  oven.  A  number  of  coats  are  applied  in  this  way. 


(46) 


Caring  for  Small-Shop  Bearings 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SYNOPSIS  —  This  article  takes  up  some  of  the 
practical  points  in  connection  with  the  construc- 
tion and  operation  of  shaft  bearings  and  tells  how 
to  make  simple  tests  of  the  quality  of  the  lubricant. 

"  How  are  you  getting  on  with  that  perpetual-motion 
machine.  Uncle  Billy  ?  " 

"  There  is  only  one  thing  now  left  to  he  overcome,  and 
then  the  machine  will  go." 

"And  what's  that,  Uncle  Billy?" 

"  Oh,  just  friction." 

Friction  is  the  curse  of  the  perpetual-motion  inventor, 
and  it  is  indeed  more  or  less  of  a  nuisance  in  the  shop 


a  case  of  three,  or  even  two,  bearings  on  a  bedplate. 
Unless  the  section  of  this  plate  is  extremely  rigid,  any 
mechanic  will  know  that  it  can  be  easily  sprung  out  of 
shape  to  suit  the  lack  of  level  or  flatness  level  of  the 
floor  on  which  it  is  placed.  It  is  almost  impossible  to 
line  up  three  bearings  upon  a  single  shaft  without  pro- 
ducing more  or  less  of  this  binding,  which  is  the  reason 
that  the  sale  of  flexible  couplings  is  on  the  increase.  Even 
the  use  of  self-aligning  bearings  does  not  do  more  than 
make  it  easier  for  the  shaft  to  bend  under  these  con- 
ditions. The  remedy  in  a  case  of  this  kind  is  to  use  a 
flexible  coupling  and  self-aligning  bearings,  dividing  the 
work  between  two  shafts,  as  shown  at  C  in  Fig.  1.  This 
arrangement  costs  more  than  the  arrangement  shown  at 


FIG.    1.     SELF-ALIGNING   BEARINGS    AND   A   FLEXIBLE  COUPLING  MAKE  BEARING  FRICTION  A  MINIMUM 
A  and  B  —  three  rigid  bearings  on  one  shaft  are  certain  to    result    in    loss   of    power.      C    and    D  —  four   self-aligning 
bearings    and    a    flexible    coupling    increase    the    first   cost,    but   pay   dividends 

anyway,    except    in   the   case   of  pulleys   and    belts,   where      A;  but  the  man  who  is  going  to  use  this  outfit  will  pay 


it  is  quite  desirable  to  have  a  fair  share  of  it.  Like  all 
other  evils,  it  has  its  uses;  but  like  most  other  evils, 
it  is  easier  to  make  use  of  its  advantages  than  it  is  to 
minimize  its  disadvantages.  And  then  if  it  weren't  for 


the  difference,  if  its  disadvantages  are  properly  explained 
to  him. 

Friction  is  blamed  for  a  lot  of  things  of  this  kind  that 
really  should  not  be  laid  at  its  door.     As  a  matter  of  fact, 


Fig.  2 


Fig.  4 


FIGS.   2  TO  4.      VARIOUS  TESTS  OF  OILS  TO  DETERMINE:   PRESENCE   OF   IMPURITIES 

Fip.  2  —Testing  oil  for  solid  impurities.  A  —  Thin  the  oil  vith  kerosene.  B  —  Strain  through  filter  parer.  C  —  Wash  the 
oil  through  with  pure  kerosene.  D  —  Examiny  the  filter  paner  for  a  residue  of  solid  particles.  Fig.  3. —  Testing  oil  for  the  pre=- 
ence  of  acid  A  —  Put  a  dron  of  oil  on  a  polished  brass  sheet.  B  —  a  green  spot  on  the  brass  after  several  days  denotes  acid 
in  the  oil.  Fig.  4 —  Testing  oil  for  the  nressnoe  of  r"=ins.  A — Put  some  oil  in  a  saucer  and  leave  in  a  warm  place  for  several 
days.  B  —  If  a  crust  forms,  it  shows  the  presence  of  resins 


friction,  the  oil  dealers  would  lose  their  jobs  and  the  price 
of  gasoline  would  go  up  another  notch  to  keep  up  the  gen- 
eral average. 

A  good  deal  of  the  friction  that  is  ordinarily  attributed 
to  bearings  is  in  reality  actual  mechanical  binding.     Take 


the  reason  that  many  shafts  run  at  all  is  because  they 
possess  enough  flexibility  to  let  them  turn  the  corners 
imposed  upon  them  by  bearings  thtit  are  out  of  line. 

When    a    bearing   heats    up    because    something   of    this 
kind    is    the    matter    with    it,    conditions    are   wrong   and 


(47) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


should  be  changed,  but  the  mere  fact  that  a  bearing  gets 
hot  does  not  indicate  that  anything  serious  is  the  matter. 
A  modern  theory  has  it  that  the  hotter  a  bearing  becomes 
the  more  efficiently  it  runs  and  the  less  power  it  wastes 
in  friction.  If  made  properly,  bearings  can  be  run  hot 
enough  to  fry  an  egg  upon  their  surface,  and  yet  this 
heat  need  not  be  the  cause  of  alarm.  However,  this  is 
true  of  the  fast-running  shafts  that  rotate  one  or  more 
thousands  of  revolutions  per  minute.  When  the  slower- 
moving  small-shop  bearings  get  hot  enough  for  culinary 
purposes,  it  is  time,  ordinarily,  to  do  something  with 
them. 

A  hot  bearing  may  be  caused  by  lack  of  proper  lubrica- 
tion or  by  lack  of  sufficiently  good  workmanship,  and 
sometimes,  not  infrequently,  it  is  due  to  a  lack  of  knowl- 


PIG.   5.     A  SIMPLE  SHOP  TEST  FOR  VISCOSITY 
A  —  Place   a   drop   of  the   oil    on   the   ball    of  the   thumb.      B  — 
If  you   can   squeeze   out   th<»    "  oijt^orv   feel  "   by   rubbing  a   short 
time,  the  oil  lacks  lubricating  qualities 


ones,  too)  where  a  machine  that  was  in  common  use  by 
a  number  of  men  went  oilless  because  each  one  would 
look  to  the  next  fellow  to  oil  it. 

The  crudest  oiling  device  that  exists  is  the  "  oil  hole " 
to  which  oil  is   applied  with  a  squirt  can.     The  use  of 


FIG.  7.     TESTING  THE  "  NEUTRALITY  "  OF  GREASE 

A  —  Melt  a  quantity  of  the  grease.  B  —  Test  with  litmus 
paper.  If  blue  litmus  paper  turns  red,  it  indicates  acid ;  if  red 
litmus  paper  turns  blue,  it  indicates  alkalies.  A  very  slow  change 
of  color  indicates  a  neutral  grease. 


FIG.    8.     TESTING   GREASE   FOR  VOLATILE   MATTER 

A — "Weigh  a  quantity  of  grease  on  a  sensitive  balance.  B  — 
Heat  at  200  deg.  F.  for  2  hr.  C —  Weigh  again.  The  difference 
in  weight  is  an  indication  of  the  amount  of  volatile  matter,  such 
as  benzine,  naphtha,  etc.,  in  the  grease. 


FIG.    6.   .TESTING   OIL  FOR  THE  PRESENCE   OF   SULPHUR  , 

A  —  Put  a  quantity  of  oil  into  each  of  two  glass  vessels.  B  — 
Heat  one  of  the  samples  to  300  deg.  F.  and  maintain  this  tem- 
perature for  IS.min.  C  —  If  the  heated  sample  turns  darker  than 
the  original,  it  "indicates  the  presence  of  sulphur. 

edge  oh  the  part  of  the  man  who  designed  the  bearing 
and  who  made  it  too  small  for  the  load.  In  the  majority 
of  cases,  however,  trouble  is  iisually  traced  to  a  lack  of 
proper  lubrication. 

Thus,  the  first  and  greatest  rule  in  caring  for  small- 
shop  bearings,  and  in  fact  any  other,  is  to  keep  them 
lubricated  with  a  lubricant  of  good  quality,  suitable  for. 
the  work  that  they  have  to  do. 

'  Of  course,  there  are  people  who  simply  will  not  oil  a 
machine,  out  of  general  principles,  I  suppose,  these 
people  usually  not  being  the  ones  who  pay  for  the 
machines  in  the  first  place.  Then  there  are  others,  and 
more  of  them,  who  do  not  neglect  to  oil  machines  on 
principle,  but  because  of  forgetfulness.  The  injury  done 
by  one  of  these  fellows  is  as  bad,  however,  and  the  aggre- 
gate damage  is  much  greater.  I  have  seen  shops  (and  big 


FIG.     9.      TESTING    A    GREASE    FOR    "FILLING" 
A  —  Melt  some  grease  in  a  test  tube.     B , —  A  cloudiness  at  the 
bottom  of  the  tube  indicates  soap  or  other  filling. 

the  word  "  engine  lathe "  is  almost  a  slander  on  the 
steam  engine,  for  no  matter  how  depraved  and  lost  to 
hope  be  the  designer  of  an  engine  he  still  retains  a  cer- 
tain sense  of  shame  that  prevents  him  from  teetotally 
ruining  the  design  of  his  engine  by  providing  for  squirt- 
can  lubrication.  No,  indeed,  he  puts  on  sight-feed  oilers, 
even  on  farm  engines  in  which  the  bearings  are  not 
scraped.  What  a  pity  to  see  excellent  workmanship 


(48) 


CARING  FOR  SMALL-SHOP  BEARINGS 


wasted  on  hardened  and  ground  spindles  and  high-grade 
bronze  bushings  such  as  we  find  in  machine  tools  and 
then  to  think  that  the  lubrication  and  like  of  these 
expensive  bearings  are  left  to  the  chance  finding  of  a 


Special  Form  of  Hollow  Mill 

BY  A.  E.  HOLADAY 
Having   a    rush   order   for   a   quantity   of   iron   castings 


squirt-can  hole!     When  you  get  a  machine  in  which  the      with    a    %-in.-diameter    wrought-iron    pin    cast    in,    and 


important  bearings  have  been  mistreated  in  this  way,  do 
yourself  a  favor  by  tapping  out  the  holes  and  adding  sight- 


having  in  stock  a  sufficient  number  of  these  castings 
with  a  %6-in.  pin,  we  decided  that  it  would  be  a  good 
idea  to  mill  these  %e-in.  pins  to  the  -required  size,  there- 


PIG.    10.     TESTING    GREASE   FOR   TALLOW   AND    GUMS 
A  —  Place     some ,    pieces     of     conper     wire     in     a     concentrated 
solution    of    nitric    acid.     B  —  Add    some    grease    and    stir.     C  — 
After  an  hour  the  ingredients  will  arrange  themselves  as  shown. 

feed  oil  cups,  incidentally  crediting  yourself  for  this  act 
by  adding  a  couple  of  years  to  the  probable  life  of  the 
machine  on  your  depreciation  sheet. 

An  article  of  this  length  is  a  small  place  to  cover  the 
big  subject  of  bearings,  even  for  small  shops.  The  man 
who  is  interested  in  the  design  and  operation  of  bearings 
will  find  this  subject  fully  covered  in  the  "  American 
Machinist  Bearing  Book."  So  I  will  use  this  space  for 
pointing  out  certain  simple  tests  for  oils  and  greases- — • 
tests  which  need  not  be  made  in  the  laboratory,  but  which 
can  be  made  in  Mrs.  Small-Shop  Man's  kitchen,  if  neces- 
sary. 

A  Built-Up  Limit  Gage 

BY  HENRY  P.  BOETTCHER 

The  cut  shows  a  limit,  or  snap,  gage  which  can  be 
very  easily  and  cheaply  made  and  kept  in  repair.  The 
central  part,  or  body,  B  is  first  finished  accurately  to 


To  grind  Gage 
remove  pc*rfs"flC 


A  BUILT-UP  LIMIT  GAGE 

the  desired  measurement,  and^  the  parts  A  having  the 
inner  surfaces  ground  and  lapped  smooth  are  fitted  and 
held  in  place  by  flush  head  screws  passing  clear  through. 
When  the  gage  becomes  worn  all  that  is  necessary  to 
restore  it  is  to  remove  the  loose  parts  and  straighten  their 
inner  surfaces  on  the  lap. 


A  HOLLOW  MILL  FOR  WROUGHT  IRON 

by  saving  time  in  the  execution  of  the  order  and  also 
reducing  an  unnecessarily  large  stock.  When  we  came 
to  the  actual  milling  operation,  however,  we  experienced 
a  vast  amount  of  difficulty  with  the  usual  form  of  cutter 
owing  to  the  nature  of  the  material  being  worked. 

After  some  experimenting  the  die  shown  in  the  illustra- 
tion was  evolved,  it  being  practically  a  pipe-threading  die 
without  the  threads.  This  tool  was  held  in  a  four-jawed 
chuck  on  the  lathe  spindle  and  the  work  fed  up 
by  a  collet  in  the  tail  spindle,  the  mill  cutting  very  freely 
and  smoothly  as  fast  as  the  operator  could  advance  the 
work. 

Radius  Planing  Tool 

BY  F.  E.  ERVIN 

The  internal  planing  tool  shown  on  page  880,  Vol. 
48,  of  the  American  Machinist  is  similar  to  a  tool  I 
have  used  for  planing  small  radii.  No  clapper  box  is 
needed,  as  the  cutter  is  placed  just  in 
front  of  this  shank  and  thrust  collar.  A 
hole  through  the  shank  near  the  lower 
end  receives  the  tool  bar,  the  shank 
being  split  for  some  distance  past  the 
hole  to  allow  for  clamping  the  bar  by 
means  of  the  capscrew  shown.  A  set- 
screw  and  hardened  rod  inserted  from 
the  rear  end  of  the  bar  clamps  the  tool, 
which  can  be  set  to  any  desired  radius 
by  measuring  over  the  bar  with  a 
micrometer. 

Two  holes  are   drilled   at   right  angles 
through    the    outer    end    of    the    bar    to 
allow    for    turning    it    with    a    pin.     To 
turn  a  radius,  the  tension  upon  the  bar 
should   be   so    adjusted   by  the   capscrew 
that    the    tool    will    not    move    of    itself 
under      pressure      of 
the  cut,  but  not  tight 
enough  to  prevent  it 
from     being     turned 
by  means  of  the  pin. 
Very    accurate    work 
can  be  done  with  this 

tool,  without  the  chatter  that  usually  accompanies  the  use 
of  formed  cutters  for  the  purpose. 


TOOL  FOR  PLANING  RADII 


(49) 


Methods  of  Locating  Machinery-Foundation 

Templets* 


BY  PAUL  M.  MEYERS 


SYNOPSIS  —  A  description  of  the  needful  equip- 
ment and  the  methods  of  using  it  in  laying  out 
machinery  foundations  and  locating  the  anchor 
bolts.  The  methods  include  the  application  of 
the  3-4-5  rule,  the  measuring  rod  and  the  radius 
board. 


Locating  a  templet  usually  involves  the  location  of  at 
least  two  center  lines  of  the  machine  —  the  longitudinal 
and  the  transverse.  In  addition  secondary  lines  must  fre- 
quently be  located. 

The  laying  off  of  one  line  at  right  angles  to  another  is 
nearly  always  necessary  in  locating  a  templet.  Therefore 
three  practical  methods  involving  the  use  of  simple 
equipment  for  laying  off  such  lines  will  be  described. 

When  any  machine  which  requires  a  foundation  is  to  be  These  methods  are  (1)  with  a  cord  by  the  3-4-5  rule,  (2) 
installed  it  is  frequently  imperative  and  always  desirable  with  a  measuring  stick,  (3)  with  a  radius  board.  Usually 
to  locate  accurately  the  anchor  bolts  in  the  foundation  where  a  transit  is  available  and  the  installation  is  a 
by  using  a  templet.  Where  a  new  machine  is  to  drive,  relatively  large  one,  it  will  prove  economical  to  use  that 
or  be  driven  by,  some  existing  machine  or  appliance,  it  instrument  in  projecting  lines;  but  inasmuch  as  the 
is  usually  necessary  that  the  new  machine  be  precisely  methods  of  laying  off  angles  with  transits  are  well 


located  in  relation 
to  the  other.  This 
positioning  obvi- 
ously involves  the 
correct  locating  of 
the  anchor-bolt 
templet.  In  this 
article  will  be  de- 
scribed some  meth- 
ods for  locat- 
ing templets,  which 
practice  has  dem- 
onstrated to  be 
satisfactory.  Al- 
though the  illus- 
trations and  de- 
scriptions relate 
specifically  to  small 
foundations,  the 
principles  involved 
apply  to  large  and 
small  alike.  Small- 
machine  installa- 
tions are  consid- 
ered merely  to 
insure  conciseness 
of  illustration  and 
description.  The 


0 

Reference  Line-t,     r 

C"    " 

1 

-i 

.  Second  Position  of 
Measuring  Stick—  -r\ 

•"• 

i 

:- 

Position  of 
Foundation 

- 

LeL.^ 

elation 

?- 

D    f 
L  i 

_ 

^ 

B 

'  Plan   View 


WALL' 'OF 
BUILDING 


-Plumb  Line 
.^-Measuring StrcJr    ,. 


"* 


F1&.3 


l,i  i I  i u  riw.s  i__l 

•Sectional     ns  2       Elevation        MEASURING  ROD      long  will  be  a  right 


/l\/ts/i-, 

Sectional   Elevation 

FI6.I.  APPLICATION  OF  5'4-5  RULE 
IM  LAYIN6  OUT 

FIGS.   1  TO  3.  METHODS  AND  DEVICES  FOR  LAYING  OUT  FOUNDATIONS. 


understood  by  the 
men  who  use  them, 
such  methods  will 
not  l>e  treated  here. 
The  method  of  lay- 
ing off  a  right  an- 
gle with  a  chord 
fay  the  3-4-5  rule, 
sometimes  called 
the  6-8-10  rule,  is 
illustrated  in  Fig.  1. 
It  involves  the  well- 
known  principle  of 
geometry  that  if  the 
ends  of  three  lines 
proportional  respec- 
tively in  length  to  3, 
4  and  5  are  joined 
together  so  as  to 
form  a  triangle,  the 
angle  between  the 
line  which  is  4  units 
long  and  the  one 
which  is  3  units 


METHOD  OF  ALI&NINS  TO  TRUSS  CENTERS. 
USIN6  A  MEASURING  STICK 


FOR  ALIGNING         nno-lp        Simnntp        it 
AND  LAYING  OUT     '      'le' 

is  desired  to  lay  off 

a    reference   line    in 


necessity    of    accurate    templet    location    is    almost    appar-      the  general  direction  of  BF,  so  that  it  lies  exactly  at  right 


ent.  The  .  location  of  the  anchor-bolt  templet  deter- 
mines the  location  of  the  machine  which  the  anchor 
bolts  are  to  fasten  down.  Thus  it  is  essential  that  the 
templet  be  placed  over  the  foundation  excavation  in  such  a 


angles  to  the  direction  of  the  line  shaft  DE. 

A  plumb  bob  is  dropped  down  over  the  shaft  from  B, 
and  the  point  directly  under  the  point  of  the  plumb  bob 
is  marked  on  the  floor.  The  plumb  bob  is  now  dropped 


position  that  the  machine,  after  it  is  installed,  will  be  at  the  down  at  A,  and  a  point  indicating  this  location  is  marked 
correct  elevation  and  in  correct  alignment  with  the  other  on  the  floor.  The  distance  from  A  to  B  should  be  just 
units  to  which  it  is  related.  Locating  a  templet  means  4  units  in  length;  that  is,  it  may  be  4  ft.  if  we  take  1  ft. 
setting  it  in  correct  alignment  (in  relation  to  whatever  is  as  our  unit,  or  it  may  be  8  ft.  if  2  ft.  is  taken  as  the  unit, 
to  drive,  or  be  driven  by,  the  new  machine)  and  setting  With  radii  of  respectively  5  units  and  3  units,  arcs  are 
it  at  the  required  elevation.  Grout  is  commonly  Used  now  struck  from  the  points  A  and  B.  These  arcs  inter- 
between  the  top  surface  of  the  foundation  and  the  bed-  sect  at  C.  They  can  be  drawn  by  using  a  pencil,  a  piece  of 
plate  of  the  machine;  hence  allowance  should  always  be  chalk  or  a  nail  tied  at  one  end  of  a  piece  of  cord  and  a 

nail  tied  in  the  cord  at  the  correct  distance  from  the 
marker,  to  act  as  a  center.  Then  the  line  BCF  through 
C  will  be  at  right  angles  to  the  shaft.  The  location  of 


made  for  the  thickness  of  grout  in  locating  a  templet  as 
to  elevation. 


1  Copyright,  1916,  Hill  Publishing  Co. 


(50) 


METHODS  OF  LOCATING  MACHINERY-FOUNDATION  TEMPLETS 


this  line  may  be  preserved  by  stretching  a  chalk  line  over      any  desirable  length,  but  5  ft.  is  a  convenient  one.     The 


it,  by  marking  it  on  the  floor  or  by  indicating  the  points 
of  its  course  on  walls,  columns  or  girders. 

The  measuring  stick  or  measuring  rod,  or  measuring 
pole  (it  has  various  names  in  different  localities),  Fig. 
3,  may  be  used  as  shown  in  Fig.  2.  For  laying  out  lines 
at  right  angles  to  one  another  it  is  detailed  in  Fig.  4. 
It  is  merely  a  rod  of  clear-grained  wood,  preferably  white 
pine,  planed  smooth  on  all  four  faces.  It  should  be  2  in. 
or  3  in.  wide,  of  %-in.  stock  and  from  8  ft.  to  25  ft. 
long,  as  conditions  demand.  An  index  or  zero  line  should 
be  scratched  near  one  end  of  the  rod,  "  squared  "  around  on 
all  four  faces,  and  the  rest  of  its  length  should  be  grad- 
uated in  feet  and  half-feet,  or  in  feet  and  inches.  The 


nails  should  be  so  driven  as  to  be  at  right  angles  to  the 
wide  faces  of  the  strip.  A  hole  0  is  now  made  in  the  center 
of  the  marker  board.  This  hole  may  be  made  con- 
veniently by  driving  one  of  the  nails  of  the  radius  strip  into 
the  board.  Then  one  of  the  nails  F  or  G  in  the  marker 
board  is  inserted  in  the  hole  0  and  the  marks  locating 
the  points  C  and  D  are  scribed,  using  the  radius  strip 
centered  at  0  as  a  tram.  The  radius  board  is  now  com- 
pleted and  should  appear  as  shown  in  Fig.  7. 

The  method  of  laying  off  a  right  angle  with  a  radius 
board  is  shown  in  Fig.  7.  It  is  assumed  that  it  is  desired 
to  lay  off  a  line,  as  GZ,  at  the  point  G  at  right  angles 
to  the  base  line  XY.  The  assembled  radius  board  is 


graduations  are  marked  on  only  one  face  of  the  rod.     The      placed  on  the  ground  or  floor  or  on  a  couple  of  battens 


rod  should  never  be  narrower  than  2  in.  on  its  wide  face, 
because  when  it  is  used  for  laying  out  one  line  parallel 
to  another  the  reference  line  (a  string)  lies  over,  and  when 
the  rod  is  at  right  angles  it  coincides  with,  the  index 
line  on  the  rod.  If  the  rod  be  too  narrow,  the  reference  line 
may  seem  to  coincide  accurately  with  the  index  line  when 
it  actually  does  not.  It  is  apparent  then  that,  within 
reasonable  limits,  the  wider  the  grad- 
uated face  of  the  rod  the  more  accurate 
will  be  the  locations  made  with  it. 

Let    us    assume    that    it    is    desired 
to    lay    off    a    line    from    the    point    C, 
Fig    4,     at     right     angles     to     AB,     as 
shown    in   the   first   step.     A    stake,   or 
pin,    Fig.    5.    should    be    driven    in    the 
ground    or   floor    at   C.     Then   a   length 
3    units    long    (usually    6    ft.    in    prac- 
tice)    CD    is    laid    off    along    AB,    as 
shown  in  the  second  step.     Another  pin 
or   stake   is   driven   at  D.     Now   a   cord 
CM   is   stretchei   from   C,   as   shown   in 
the  third  step,  in  a  direction,  as  nearly 
as  can  be  determined   with   the  eye,   at 
right    angles    to    AB.     Lay    off    a    dis- 
tance  4   units   long    (usually   8    ft.    in 
practice)    CE  and  drive  a  pin  or  stake 
at       E.     Batter      boards       or       trestles 
should  now  be   arranged,   on   which   the 
measuring  stick,  Fig.  3,  may  rest  while  it  is  being  adjusted. 
The    trestles    or    batter    boards    should    be    as    nearly    as 
possible  of  such  a  height  that  the  measuring  stick  when 
it  is  laid  on  them  will  lie  just  under  the  lines  but  will 
not  touch  them.     Now  swing  line  CM  around  C  by  moving 
M   until  the  distance  between  D  and  E  is  5  units  long 
(usually  10  ft.  in  practice).     The  3-4-5  triangle  is  com- 
pleted, which  insures  CE  at  right  angles  to  AB. 

The  radius  board  is  an  arrangement  whereby  right 
angles  can  be  laid  off  with  a  minimum  expenditure  of 
time  and  labor.  The  arrangement,  which  is  illustrated 
in  Fig.  6,  was,  it  is  believed,  first  proposed  by  James  F. 
Hobart  and  is  described  in  his  book,  "  Millwrighting." 
The  device  comprises  two  components  —  the  marker  board 
and  the  radius  strip,  Fig.  6.  Almost  any  plank  may  be 
used  for  a  marker  board,  but  it  should  preferably  be  about 
12  ft.  long,  %  in.  thick  and  10  in.  wide.  It  has  a  line 
AB  scratched  longitudinally  along  the  center  of  one  of 
its  faces,  which  should  be  planed  smooth.  The  radius 
strip  is  a  wooden  piece  2  in.  or  3  in.  wide,  which  has 


or  horses,  as  shown.  Then  with  one  nail  F  of  the  radius 
strip  in  position  in  the  hole  0  of  the  marker  board,  the 
whole  device  is  shifted  until  the  other  nail  G  of  the  strip 
is  at  the  point  from  which  the  line  at  right  angles  to 
XY  is  to  be  projected.  Now  the  trestles  or  battens  are 
adjusted  so  as  to  lie  directly  under  the  board,  and  it  is 
shifted  until  the  point  B  lies  directly  under  the  line  XY. 

/?'- ->i 


-,, 


Marker  Board 


-£,    Radius 


FIG.  6.  CONSTRUCTION  OF  RADIUS  BOARD 
Stake --> 


FI6.4  APPLICATION  OF  3-4-5  RULE 
USING  MEASURING  STICK 


. p>n  y_ts. 

WOODEN  STAKE 

AND  STEEL  PIN 

USED  FOR  MARKERS 

IN  LAYING  OUT 


FI6.7.  METHOD  OF  USING  RADIUS  BOARD 
FOR  LAYING  OUT 


FIGS.   4  TO  7.     METHODS  FOR  USING  MEASURING  ROD  AND  RADIUS  BOARD. 

Then  a  line  GZ,  passing  over  the  hole  A  in  the  marker 
board,  will  be  at  right  angles  to  XY.  The  angle  AGB 
will  be  a  right  angle  regardless  of  the  location  of  B  along 
XY.  However,  it  is  desirable  to  .maintain  the  distances 
GB  and  GA  about  equal,  because  this  tends  to  insure 
maximum  accuracy.  Although  in  description  this 
method  may  appear  complicated,  it  is  really  very  simple, 
in  practice  and  doubtless  provides  the  most  rapid  method 
for  laying  off  lines  at  right  angles  to  one  another.  The 
radius  board  is  based  on  the  geometric  principle  that  any 
angle  described  in  a  semicircle  is  always  a  right  angle. 

The  method  of  using  the  measuring  stick  to  lay  off 
one  line  parallel  to  another  is  shown  in  Fig.  2.  Assume 
that  it  is  desired  to  locate  the  center  line  DE  of  a  foun- 
dation, it  being  necessary  that  DE  be  exactly  parallel  with 
some  reference  line  AC.  This  reference  line  in  the  case 
shown  is  a  cord  which  may  be  strung  between  the  centers 
of  two  columns  or  between  a  stake  and  some  other  point. 
A  plumb  bob  B  is  hung  at  a  convenient  location  on  the 
reference  line.  Then  the  measuring  stick  is  placed  on  the 


two  nails  G  and  F  driven  through  it,  one  at  each  of  its      ground  or  floor,  in  the  position  shown  in  Fig.  2,  and  its 
ends.     The  distance  between  the  nails  F  and  G  may  he      outer  end  is  shifted  around  0  as  a  center  until,  to  a  per- 

(51) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


son  sighting  with  one  eye  from  a  position  P,  the  index 
line  on  the  measuring  stick,  the  plumb  line  and  the  ref- 
erence line  coincide.  Then  the  stick  is  at  right  angles 
to  the  reference  line,  and  a  mark  is  made  on  the  floor  at 
D  at  the  required  distance  from  the  reference  line.  This 
operation  is  repeated  with  the  stick  in  the  position  shown 
dotted,  and  the  point  E  is  obtained.  A  line  through  D 
and  E  is  parallel  to  the  reference  line,  at  the  correct  dis- 
tance from  it  and  is  a  longitudinal  center  line  for  the 
foundation  and  the  templet  that  is  to  locate  it.  Obviously 
the  line  OD  must  be  at  right  angles  to  AC. 

Typical  examples  illustrating  methods  of  locating 
templets  are  given  in  Figs.  8  and  9.  While  these  views 
show  small  (4-bolt)  templets,  the  general  procedure  indi- 
cated is  the  same  as  would  be  followed  for  large  machines. 
In  each. case  it  is  necessary  to  locate  a  longitudinal  and  a 
transverse  center  line. 

The  method  in  aligning  a  templet  to  a  line  shaft  is 
shown  in  Fig.  8,  which  illustrates  the  interior  of  a  mill 


distance  ON  similarly  laid  off.  The  cord  LN,  represent- 
ing the  transverse  center  line  of  the  foundation,  was 
drawn  taut  between  the  two  stakes,  located  as  shown.  The 
templet  was  then  adjusted  over  the  foundation  hole  until 
the  corresponding  index  lines  on  it  coincided  with  the  line 
LN.  Then  the  templet  was  shifted  until  the  distance  JK 
measured  from  the  truss  center  line  was  correct.  It  was 
then  nailed  securely  to  the  stakes  which  had  previously 
been  driven,  and  held  firmly  in  position.  The  elevation  of 
the  templet  was  determined  by  measuring  up  from  the 
floor  line,  and  it  was  adjusted  until  it  was  level  in  all 
directions.  The  boards  composing  the  templet  were  pur- 
posely left  long  enough  so  that  they  would  extend  beyond 
the  excavation  and  rest  on  the  stakes  for  support. 

The  process  of  aligning  a  templet  from  a  roof-truss 
center  line  is  diagramed  in  Fig.  9.  In  this  case  a  form 
was  used  for  the  foundation,  and  the  templet,  after  being 
properly  aligned  and  leveled,  was  nailed  to  the  top  edge 
of  the  form.  The  longitudinal  center  line  of  the  templet 


\-CL3f_7h,ss_._ 


J- 


P-E- 

u 



n 

1 



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0 

c 

1 

u  L 

Si 

a 

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Section  A'A 


I                          ^z«5  Chord--*, 

i  n 

-TJi 

L_ 

Line  Shaft-* 
foundation  Templet           Plumb 

H  
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1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

W/////////ff/W//<fi/'W/7W^^^ 

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Foundation               Stake               F??:?^?j3*\ 
I    Longitudinal 
1  —  _  —  „_  —  J       Section.                 r 

FIG.   8.     METHOD  OF  ALIGNING  TEMPLET  TO 
LINE  SHAFT 

•4"  BUILDING   WALL                               

„ 

J-r^-. 

-« 

BUILDING  WALL->  ;  - 
H                                                 A  _j.  -Line  Between  Centers  of  Columns        B  °      I  ~  i  \ 

..-Structural  Steel  Column 
Hole  for 
Foundat 

D' 

Form- 

FLOOR  OF  BUILDIN6 

r'    - 

\CLafFoundation 

_r—  _^—  ,  ^i                                                r*?              -      • 

'- 

T       1  ' 

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1 

r 

_r 

C 

Anchor-Bolt  Templet- 
Blocks  Ho/ding  Form  in  Position- 

3 

"1 

c 

- 

i 

r 

_ 

HnH 

D    —  —  --^ 

GU-r-- 

FIG.  9.    METHOD  OF  ALIGNING  FOUNDATION  TO  TRUSS  CENTER 

CE  was  made  parallel  with  the  roof-truss  center  line  777 
by  measuring  the  distances  D  1  and  D.2  The  distance  D  3 
is  from  the  inner  face  of  the  wall  to  the  transverse  center 
line.  The  distance  D,1  D  2  and  D  3  were  all  specified  on 
the  erection  drawing.  All  three  of  the  center  lines  (777, 
CE  and  GJ)  are,  in  practice,  taut  cords.  After  the  tem- 
plet and  form  have  been  accurately  located  in  their  cor- 
rect positions,  blocks  are  wedged  between  the  outer  face 
of  the  form  and  the  face  of  the  excavation  to  prevent  the 
form  from  shifting  while  the  concrete  is  being  poured. 
Sometimes,  if  the  form  is  not  worth  saving,  the  space 
between  it  and  the  foundation  is  filled  with  earth  before 
the  concrete  is  placed,  and  the  form  is  left  in  the  ground. 


building  where  a  motor  to  drive  a  line  shaft  is  to  be 
installed.  The  foundation  center  lines  are  located  from 
the  dimensions  D  4  and  Z>,6  distances  from  the  center  line 
of  a  roof  truss  and  center  line  of  a  line  shaft  respectively. 
In  the  case  illustrated  the  soil  was  so  firm  that  no  form 
was  required  for  the  foundation,  the  excavation  itself 
constituting  the  form.  Hence  the  templet,  after  having 
been  accurately  aligned  in  the  manner  to  be  described, 
was  held  in  position  by  nails  driven  through  it  into 
wooden  stakes  driven  into  the  ground.  The  procedure 
in  aligning  the  templet  was  as  follows :  A  plumb  bob 
dropped  over  the  line  shaft  indicated  its  location  with  ref- 
erence to  the  ground.  The  plumb  bob  was  adjusted  at 
the  point  M  and  the  distance  LM  laid  off  with  a  measur- 
ing stick  (see  Fig.  3).  A  tape  line  could  have  been  used 
instead.  Then  the  plumb  bob  was  adjusted  at  0  and  the 


End  Mill  for  Babbitt 

BY  A.  E.  HOLADAY 

The   illustration    shows   an    end   mill   which   has   proved 
successful    for   machining   babbitt   or   white   metal.     It   is 


AN  END  MILL   FOR   BABBITT 

a  regular  end  mill  with  every  other  tooth  cut  back  to  the 
angles  given.  It  was  found  not  to  clog  up  with  metal  as 
a  regular  mill  does. 


(52) 


Standardizing  Shop  Drawings  of  Machine 

Details 


BY  A.  C.  SPENCER* 


SYNOPSIS  —  This  plan  -is  intended  to  relieve  the 
drafting  room  of  the  large  amount  of  duplication 
which  is  often  considered  necessary  in  the  details 
of  manufactured  articles.  It  substitutes  a  form, 
printed  •  on  bond  paper  for  easy  blueprinting,  and 
enables  stock  orders  and  instruction  cards  to  be 
made  by  filling  in  a  few  blanks  or  crossing  out 
'unnecessary  directions.  A  careful  study  of  some 
of  these  forms  should  be  helpful  to  many  drafting- 
room  heads. 


universal  application,  as  well  as  the  surprising  amount  of 
detailed  instructions  which  can  be  given  with  all  neces- 
sary variations  for  different  pieces.  These  variations  are 
easily  secured  by  crossing  out  unnecessary  operations  and 
putting  in  special  figures  wherever  necessary,  such  as  the 
length  of  time  to  be  kept  hot  and  the  drawing  temperature 
for  pack  hardening. 

The  actual  size  of  the  sheets  shown  is  6x8  in.,  although 
a  larger  size,  8x12  in.,  has  also  been  used  for  some  pur- 
poses. The  sheets  are  printed  on  a  bound  paper  in  a  print- 
ing press,  and  blueprints  are  easily  made. 


It  will  be  noticed  that  the  necessary  stock  is  shown  at 
The     illustrations     present     a     number    of     interesting      the  top  of  each  sheet,  as  well  as  the  list  number  of  the 
examples  of  a  plan  for  reducing  labor  in  the  drawing  room      sheet  in   the  upper  right-hand  corner.     An  outline  of  the 
by  making  it  unnecessary  to  draw   many  of  the  details      piece,  not  drawn  to  scale,  gives  all  necessary  dimensions, 

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DRAWN                     DATE 
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STOCK  RECORD 

STOCK  RECORD 

njrttj                                                                                                                  UNITED  SHOE  MACHINERY  CO. 

IISPfCT                                                                                                                  UNITED  SHOE  MACHINERY  CCX 

BEVERLY,  MASS. 

BEVERLY.  MASS. 
r.r.MM 

FIG.  3.  SHEET  FOR  COLLARED  CAPSCREW 

used  in  standard  machines,  and  for  making  possible  the 
issuing  of  blueprint  instruction  sheets  at  a  very  low 
cost.  A  little  study  of  these  sheets  will  show  their  almost 

*  Chief  draftsman,  United  Shoe  Machinery  Co. 


FIG.    4.    SHEET    FOR   CONE-HEAD   SCREW 

and  below  this  are  instructions  covering  the  type  of 
machines  on  which  the  work  is  to  be  done,  all  necessary 
directions  as  to  spindle  speeds  and  the  necessary  gearing, 
as  well  as  the  standard  time  per  piece. 


(53) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


The  left-hand  column  contains  all  the  necessary  opera- 
tions and  any  special  directions.  Unnecessary  operations 
are  crossed  out,  and  below  this  there  are  directions  for 
the  proper  pack  hardening  in  each  case.  The  central  col- 
umn shows  the  necessary  tools  to  he  used. 

Although  only  16  examples  are  shown  these  printed 
sheets  now  cover  about  30  subjects  and  will  be  added  to 


from  time  to  time.  They  include,  in  addition  to  the  parts 
shown,  cam  rolls,  shouldered  cap  screws,  special  screws 
and  work  of  this  nature.  It  can  easily  be  varied  or 
enlarged  to  suit  the  individual  of  different  shops. 

1  his  method,  as  will  be  seen,  gives  a  very  uniform  set 
of  drawings.  As  the  draftsman  is  only  required  to  add 
a  few  dimensions  and  perhaps  cross  out  a  few  unnecessary 


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FIG.  5.    SHERT  FOR  SPECIAL  STUD 

FIG.  6.    SHEET  FOR  HEADLESS  SCREW 

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BEVERLY,  MASS. 

FIG.  7.  SHEET  FOR  %-IN.  HEX  NUT 


FIG.  8.  SHEET  FOR 


KNURLED  NUT 


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||SFta                                                                                                                  UNITED  SHOE  MACHINERY  CO. 

.„,„                                                                                                       UNITED  SHOE  MACHINERY  CO. 

BEVERLY,  MASS. 

BEVERLY,  MASS. 

FIG.  9.  SHEET  FOR  SPECIAL  PIN 


FIG.  10.  SHEET  FOR  HEADED  PIN 


(54) 


STANDARDIZING  SHOP  DRAWINGS  OF  MACHINE  DETAILS 


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FIG.  11.  SHEET  FOR  %-IN.  PIN 


FIG.  12.  SHEET  FOR  TAPER  PIN 


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FIG.  13.  SHEET  FOR  THIN  COLLAR 


FIG.  14.  SHEET  FOR  COLLAR  WITH  SETSCREW 


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BEVERLY.  MASS: 

UNITED  SHOE  MACHINERY  COL 
BEVERLY.  MASS. 

FIG.  15.  SHEET  FOR  %-IN.  COLLAR 

instructions,  it  effects  a  large  saving  of  time.  It  also  gives 
uniform  printed  lettering  in  each  case,  which  avoids  all 
difficulty  as  to  instructions  not  always  being  perfectly  legi- 
ble. The  instructions  which  are  added  can  be  done  on  the 
typewriter  if  preferred,  as  the  sheets  are  small  enough  to  be 
handled  easily  in  that  way. 


FIG.  16.    SHEET  FOR  HELICAL  SPRING 

This  system  was  designed  by  the  writer  some  time  ago 
and  has  been  put  into  practice  in  the  drafting  rooms  of 
the  United  Shoe  Machinery  Co.,  Beverly,  Mass.,  where  it  is 
proving  highly  successful  in  every  way.  This  system  can 
be  modified  to  suit  almost  any  shop  conditions  where  the 
work  is  of  sufficient  volume  to  warrant  printing  the  blanks. 


(55) 


Lubricating  Oils  and  Cutting  Compounds  for 

Shop  Use 


BY  W.  ROCKWOOD  CONOVER  2 


SYNOPSIS —  Wastage  of  oils  and  cutting  com- 
pounds through  inexpert  buying  and  careless  use 
is  common  in  machine  shops.  The  principles  that 
should  govern  selections,  tests  that  should  control 
quality  and  methods  that  should  give  satisfactory 
use  are  all  outlined.  The  cheapest  oil  or  compound 
is  often  the  most  expensive. 

One  of  the  subjects  that  enlist  the  attention  of  the  manu- 
facturer •  is  that  of  lubricating  oils  and  cutting  com- 
pounds. The  manufacturing  plant  that  does  not  include 
among  its  departments  a  chemical  testing  laboratory 
where  proper  tests  of  lubricants  can  be  made  and  values 
accurately  determined  often  depends  upon  the  judgment 
of  its  superintendent  or  department  heads,  with  the  too 
frequent  result  that  either  a  too  high  price  is  paid  for 
oils  or  else  quality  is  sacrificed  in  a  mistaken  idea  that, 
by  employing  cheap  oils,  money  is  being  saved.  There 
is  scarcely  any  other  subject  connected  with  machine-tool 
operation  on  which  there  is  such  diversified  and  contra- 
dictory opinion  and  judgment  as  that  of  the  lubrication 
of  machine-bearing  surfaces  and  the  lubricating  of  cutting 
tools.  . 

Often  the  superintendent  or  foreman  of  a  department 
in  selecting  oils  depends  upon  the  judgment  of  the  opera- 
tor, which  is  apt  to  be  biased  by  years  of  following  some 
previously  established  rule  or  practice  taught  in  the  early 
days  of  learning  his  trade.  Many  of  the  old  theories  and 
practices  have  become  obsolete  and  have  been  shown  under 
the  light  of  modern  shop  experience  to  be  not  only  expen- 
sive, but  not  of  equal  value  to  the  practices  established  in 
recent  years. 

LUBRICATING  OILS  FOR  MACHINERY 

The  preserving  and  maintaining  of  bearing  surfaces 
of  machinery  and  minimizing  of  friction  are  of  prime 
importance  and  should  have  preference  over  all  other 
considerations  in  the  purchase  of  lubricating  oils.  In 
addition  to  chemical  tests  practical  tests  should  be  employed 
to  determine  satisfactorily  the  wearing  quality  and 
value  of  lubricants.  To  accept  the  opinion  of  indi- 
viduals or  dealers  may  as  often  prove  expensive  as  other- 
wise. A  reduced  oil  account  is  not  economy  if  the  ledger 
shows  greatly  multiplied  upkeep  and  repair  charges  on 
machine  tools  at  the  end  of  the  year  and  the  factor  of 
depreciation  much  increased.  There  is  a  wide  latitude  in 
the  degree  of  viscosity  of  lubricating  fluids  between  lubri- 
cants having  a  low  specific  gravity  and  lubricants  hav- 
ing too  much  body;  between  pure  mineral  oils  and  those 
containing  a  high  percentage  of  animal  fats  that  tend  to 
acidity  and  produce  a  corrosive  effect,  however  modified, 
on  bearing  surfaces. 

The  small  manufacturer  not  in  a  position  to  employ 
chemical  analysis  should  at  least  determine  by  practical 
tests  the  lubricating  value  of  given  oils  on  the  specific 

1  Prepared   for   the   author's   forthcoming   book   on    "  Industrial 
Economics."     Copyright,   1916,  Hill  Publishing  Co. 

2  Factory   economist.   General   Electric  Co. 


work  on  which  he  desires  to  use  them  in  his  own  factory. 
The  importance  and  advantage  of  such  tests  in  large  estab- 
lishments are  equally  obvious  and  not  to  be  questioned, 
but  there  the  conditions  are  essentially  better  and  the 
facilities  multiplied.  The  necessity  for  accurate  data  is 
also  proportionately  greater. 

An  oil  purchased  at  a  comparatively  low  cost  may  be 
good;  it  may  answer  the  purpose,  but  it  may  be  neither 
economical  nor  wise  to  use  it  in  the  long  run.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  axiom  "  The  best  is  the  cheapest "  is  not 
always  a  true  one.  Certain  oils  are  adapted  to  the  lubrica- 
tion of  shaft  bearings,  the  bearings  of  shop  motors  and 
high-speed  power-transmission  machinery,  but  they  are 
not  adapted  to  the  lubrication  of  the  bearing  surfaces  of 
large  boring  mills  and  lathes,  of  millers  and  planers 
having  heavy  friction  load.  An  oil  of  lighter  body  or 
less  viscosity  can  be  selected  for  the  former  than  is  prac- 
ticable for  the  latter  class  of  machinery.  Conditions  must 
be  carefully  studied  —  speeds,  pressure,  temperatures, 
friction  load,  etc. — -and  careful  tests  made,  if  the  manu- 
facturer would  wisely  and  economically  choose  the  grade 
or  kind  of  lubricants  adapted  to  his  work.  An  error  in 
judgment  in  the  grade  of  oils  for  costly  machine  tools 
may  necessitate  repairs  that  neutralize  the  saving  in 
purchase  price  for  many  months.  With  the  indiffer- 
ent manufacturer  oil  is  oil,  and  through  lack  of  proper 
attention  to  this  important  feature  of  factory  expense  the 
careless  operative  is  as  likely  as  not  to  use  cylinder  oil 
on  all  the  smaller  working  engine  parts  or  high-grade 
machine  oil  on.  line  shaft  bearings;  and  the  practice  is 
likely  to  be  continued  unobserved  until  serious  trouble  or 
loss  results. 

For  the  bearing  surfaces  of  large  machine  tools  an  oil 
•  free  from  animal  fats,  of  increased  specific  gravity  and 
of  much  greater  viscosity  than  oils  designed  for  light 
high-speed  machinery  should  be  selected.  This  sort  of 
lubricant  will  give  increased  wearing  quality  where  speeds 
are  comparatively  slow  and  the  friction  loads  more  or 
less  heavy.  Such  machine  oils  can  be  purchased  at  prices 
ranging  from  14  to  20c.  per  gallon.  With  these  oils  there 
will  be  no  increase  in  temperatures,  and  the  bearing  sur- 
faces will  keep  in  excellent  condition.  For  babbitted  sur- 
faces on  light  machinery  cheaper  oils  will  serve. 

Some  manufacturers  select  an  inexpensive  mineral  oil, 
costing  12c.  or  less  per  gallon,  for  general  lubrication  of 
machine  tools,  shafting,  shop  motors,  etc.  The  economy 
of  this  practice  is  doubtful  under  conditions  of  heavy  fric- 
tion load  or  high  speed,  when  the  proper  maintenance 
of  shop  machinery  and  of  machine  tools  is  considered  and 
the  expense  of  such  upkeep  for  the  year  computed.  An 
oil  costing  at  least  30  or  40  per  cent,  more  than  the  just 
mentioned  figure  will  give  far  more  satisfactory  results 
and  be  found  more  economical  in  the  long  run,  both  from 
the  standpoint  of  consumption  and  that  of  keeping  the 
tools  in  good  condition. 

For  lubricating  the  bearings  of  cranes  of  high-tonnage 
capacity  and  on  some  other  classes  of  heavy  machinery 
operated  at  low  speed,  where  the  friction  load  is  not  too 


(56) 


LUBRICATING  OILS  AND  CUTTING  COMPOUNDS  FOR  SHOP  USE 


great  to  permit  their  use,  one  of  the  cylinder-oil  stocks 
at  a  cost  not  exceeding  15  or  16c.  per  gallon  can  be  chosen 
to  advantage.  These  oils  are  also  suitable  for  lubricating 
rubber  mills,  heavy  rolls,  cylinders,  etc. 

In  running  experimental  tests  and  commercial  tests  on 
electrical  or  other  machinery  preparatory  to  shipment  a 
good  quality  of  mineral  oil  costing  from  10  to  12c.  per 
gallon  should  be  employed  as  a  substitute  for  the  higher- 
priced  oils  preferred  in  the  permanent  Operation  of  the 
machines.  One  of  the  reasons  for  this  substitution  is 
the  fact  that  in  these  preliminary  tests  the  facilities  for 
handling  the  oil  and  <  preventing  leakage  are  not,  as  a 
rule,  as  complete  as  when  the  machines  are  installed  in 
their  permanent  location,  and  there  is  consequently  an 
increased  percentage  of  consumption  and  waste.  It  has 
been  found  by  experiment  that  temperatures,  even  where 
machines  are  operated  under  high  speed  during  the 
process  of  testing,  are  not  perceptibly  increased  by  the 
use  of  the  cheaper  oil.  In  all  such  cases,  however,  it  is 
advisable  to  make  careful  tests  on  the  specific  work  for 
which  the  lubricant  is  required,  to  determine  any  differ- 
ence in  temperature  or  friction  load,  before  a  permanent 
change  is  made. 

CUTTING  OILS  AND  COMPOUNDS 

Regarding  the  subject  of  cutting  oils  and  cutting  com- 
pounds there  is  wide  diversity  of  opinion.  Not  a  few 
manufacturers  of  the  old  school  still  hold  the  belief  that 
pure  lard  oil  is  the  cheapest  and  most  satisfactory  cut- 
ting lubricant  for  most  classes  of  work  in  the  long  run. 
In  the  majority  of  cases  this  opinion  is  the  result  of 
clinging  to  old  theories  and  of  aversion  to  inaugurating 
new  practices;  or  if  based  on  actual  tests  and  experiments, 
the  tests  have  not  been  conducted  on  a  practical  basis. 
Were  we  to  grant  the  correctness  of  judgment  of  these 
manufacturers  in  so  far  as  the  wearing  quality  of  oil  is 
concerned,  we  have  still  the  factors  of  cutter  grinding 
and  the  keeping  of  tools  cool  to  consider.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  by  practice  that  on  certain  classes  of  work 
and  under  certain  conditions  a  compound  into  which  water 
enters  largely  as  a  component  part  is  not  only  cheaper 
in  cost,  but  superior  to  pure  oil  in  cooling  properties. 

On  account  of  the  number  and  variety  of  cutting  lubri- 
cants on  the  market  careful  chemical  analyses  and  prac- 
tical tests  should  always  be  made  by  the  manufacturer 
before  purchasing.  Nearly  all  compounds  contain  a  cer- 
tain percentage  of  free  fatty  acid  and  consequently  are 
acid  in  their  reaction,  and  nearly  all  have  a  more  or  less 
detergent  action  on  metal  surfaces  covered  with  oils. 
Choice  should  be  made  of  those  compounds  which  are 
least  acid  and  which  exert  the  least  corrosive  influence 
on  metal  surfaces.  This  is  especially  important  in  the 
case  of  multiple-spindle  machines  and  all  machines  where 
the  work  is  in  close  proximity  to  the  bearing  heads,  as 
under  these  conditions  the  oil  is  likely  to  become  washed 
from  the  bearings  and  the  expense  of  machine-tool  repairs, 
in  consequence,  to  be  materially  increased. 

The  initial  cost  of  any  cutting  lubricant  is  relatively 
unimportant.  What  the  consumer  needs  to  know  primar- 
ily is  the  action  of  the  lubricant  on  the  point  of  cutting 
tools  in  reference  to  absorbing  and  neutralizing  heat  gen- 
erated in  cutting,  its  lubricating  properties,  its  wearing 
quality,  its  specific  gravity,  flash  point,  percentage  of 
free  fatty  acid  and  in  the  case  of  water  compounds  its 
ability  to  form  a  perfect  emulsion  and  remain  in  a  proper 


state  of  solution.  The  factor  of  retaining  metal  dust  in 
suspension  must  also  not  be  overlooked.  Some  com- 
pounds run  dirty  continually  until  entirely  consumed, 
holding  minute  particles  of  metal  dust  in  suspension  until 
the  compound  becomes  thoroughly  charged  with  this  for- 
eign matter.  This  condition  tends  to  increase  friction 
at  the  point  of  the  cutting  tool  and  to  raise  tempera- 
tures abnormally,  thereby  reducing  in  some  degree  the 
cutting  power.  Lastly,  the  initial  cost  is  important,  but 
only  relatively  so.  An  oil  of  high  market  price  may  wear 
sufficiently  longer  than  the  cheaper  grades  to  show  a  lower 
running  cost  per  hour,  and  this  is  frequently  true.  It 
is  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of  the  use 
of  pure  lard  oil  or  a  high-grade  mixture  of  lard  and  min- 
eral oil. 

When  the  manufacturer  is  about  to  purchase  any  of 
the  cheaper  oils  or  water  compounds,  he  should  insist  upon 
being  furnished  by  the  refiner  or  dealer  with  running 
cost  per  hour,  or  consumption,  on  various  classes  of  work, 
for  comparison  with  the  cost  of  lubricants  he  has  pre- 
viously been  using.  If  these  data  cannot  be  obtained 
from  the  dealer,  the-  manufacturer  should  conduct  accu- 
rate and  careful  tests  in  his  own  shop  in  order  to  deter- 
mine the  relative  economy  of  lubricants  offered  him.  With- 
out these  precautions  he  can  form  no  intelligent  judgment 
in  the  matter  and  is  as  likely  to  be  deceived  as  other- 
wise. 

These  comparative  tests  must  include  the  cost  of  repairs 
to  machine  tools  and  many  other  items  of  information, 
as  indicated  in  the  paragraph  on  testing,  in  order  to 
obtain  data  of  sufficient  value  to  render  a  decision  as 
to  purchase  safe  and  correct.  Even  under  such  exhaus- 
tive analysis  any  fluctuation  in  the  cost  of  maintenance 
of  machine  tools  may  be  due  to  the  character  of  the  work 
performed  and  the  strength  of  the  tool  itself  rather  than 
to  the  use  of  a  different  lubricant.  For  this  reason  it 
will  readily  be  acknowledged  that  the  manufacturer  must, 
to  some  extent  at  least,  base  his  decisions  on  broad  judg- 
ment and  experience,  his  habit  of  observation  and  his 
insight  into  the  conduct  of  processes  in  his  shop.  It  is 
not  exceeding  the  limit  of  truth,  however,  to  state  that 
a  very  large  percentage  of  the  consumers  of  cutting  oils 
and  lubricants  do  not  know  with  definite  certainty  the 
actual  conditions  with  reference  to  economical  consump- 
tion of  these  materials  within  their  shops,  and  often  too 
much  dependence  is  placed  on  the  statements  of  dealers 
or  on  the  judgment  and  opinion  of  the  tool  operator. 

TESTING  CUTTING  LUBRICANTS 

In  making  practical  tests  of  cutting  lubricants  it  is 
desirable  to  select  a  piece  of  work  on  which  the  machine 
can  be  run  for  at  least  one  week,  and  a  much  longer 
period  is  preferable.  The  oil  cups  should  have  attention 
to  see  that  there  is  a  free  flow  of  oil  to  the  bearings.  The 
tank  should  be  thoroughly  cleaned  of  the  previous  lubri- 
cant, and  all  bearing  surfaces,  turret  heads  and  slides 
should  be  cleaned  before  the  machine  is  loaded  for  test. 
It  is  not  sufficient  to  allow  the  lubricant  to  flow  onto 
the  top  or  side  of  the  tool.  The  feed  pipe  should  be  so 
arranged  that  a  full,  strong  stream  will  be  carried  directly 
to  the  point  of  the  tool  and  to  the  surface  being 
cut,  in  order  that  the  tools  and  work  may  be  properly 
cooled.  Of  equal  importance  is  the  manner  in  which  the 
tools  are  ground.  A  good  compound  has  often  been  con- 
demned through  ignorance  of  these  two  essentials  —  the 


(57) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


adjusting  of  feed  pipes  for  proper  flow  and  the  grinding      prime  importance,  particularly  in  the  factory  where  tool 


of  tools  at  the  proper  angle  for  greatest  efficiency  on  the 
surfaces  to  be  cut.  Grinding  the  cutting  tool  at  a  wrong 
angle  not  only  results  in  increased  heating  and  loss  of 
cutting  power,  but  is  frequently  the  cause  of  bad  work  as 
well.  To  this  must  be  added  the  increased  cost  of  frequent 
regrinding  and  the  loss  through  delay  and  stoppage  of 
productive  work. 

When  the  machine  is  loaded  with  compound  and  the 
test  started,  it  is  necessary  that  the  proportion  of  stock 
or  stock  solution  and  water  be  maintained  uniform 
throughout.  Otherwise,  the  running  cost  per  hour  or 
cost  for  a  given  quantity  of  work  cannot  be  satisfactorily 
ascertained,  .as  the  quality  of  the  work  will  not  be  uni- 
formly good.  With  all  cutting  lubricants  into  which 
water  enters  as  one  of  the  component  parts  the  factor 
of  evaporation  is  a  serious  one,  and  it  is  necessary,  after 
the  first  day's  run,  to  add  more  water,  in  greater  or  lesser 
amount,  each  succeeding  day  to  hold  the  proportions  con- 
stant. The  degree  of  dilution  called  for  in  the  manu- 
facturer's or  dealer's  specifications  should  he  maintained 
throughout  the  test.  Without  this  care  the  operator  will 
after  a  few  days  be  running  a  mixture  fully  as  expensive 
per  hour's  run  or  per  piece  as  lard  or  other  oils.  It  may 
be  even  more  expensive. 

In  conducting  comparative  tests  the  following  data 
should  be  carefully  kept:  Total  running  time,  time  spent 
grinding  tools,  time  spent  on  repairs  or  other  delays,  actual 
operating  time,  condition  of  tools  at  commencement, 
depreciation  of  tools,  speed  and  feed,  number  of  pieces 
finished,  quality  or  character  of  work  done,  number  of 
gallons  of  compound  in  reservoir  at  start,  number  of  gallons 
of  compound  in  reservoir  at  finish. 

With  preliminary  tests  of.  this  kind  the  cost  per  run- 
ning hour  and  ratio  of  economy  and  advantage  between 
different  kinds  of  cutting  compounds  sold  on  the  mar- 
ket, or  between  a  cutting  compound  and  a  cutting  oil, 
may  be  safely  and  satisfactorily  determined.  In  the  case 
of  lard  oil  or  mineral  oil  or  a  mixture  of  both  the  oil 
should  be  reclaimed  from  the  chips  and  this  amount 
deducted  from  the  quantity  with  which  the  machine  was 
originally  loaded,  the  cost  of  reclaiming  being  considered 
in  the  final  estimate. 

After  the  choice  of  a  cutting  compound  has  been  deter- 
mined upon,  the  bearings  of  the  machines  should  be 
opened  at  reasonable  intervals  and  conditions  noted ;  and 
careful  inspection  should  be  made  of  slides  and  all  other 
wearing  surfaces  with  which  the  lubricant  has  come  in 
contact.  Machines  operated  with  any  of  the  various  water 
cutting  compounds  should  be  inspected  and  cleaned  with 
greater  frequency  than  those  loaded  with  oil  for  reasons 
previously  indicated  in  the  paragraph  relating  to  fatty 
acids  and  their  tendency  to  corrode  or  wash  oil  from  bear- 
ing surfaces.  The  cost  of  machine  repairs  should  also 
receive  attention  and  a  comparison  be  made,  after  a  rea- 
sonable length  of  time,  with  previous  periods,  taking 
into  consideration  the  number  of  hours  the  tools  are  oper- 
ated and  the  character  of  the  work  or  burden  placed  upon 
the  machine. 

In  addition  to  the  reduced  cost  per  running  hour  effected 
by  the  use  of  proper  cutting  compounds  the  factor  of 
speed  is  worthy  of  consideration.  It  has  been  demon- 
strated that,  with  the  right  kind  of  lubricant,  the  cutting 
speed  can  in  many  instances  be  increased  from  10  to 
15  per  cent.  As  productive  output  per  machine  is  of 


equipment   and   space   are   limited,   the   securing   of   this 
advantage  is  desirable. 

There  are  certain  classes  of  work  in  the  shop,  such  as 
milling  large-sized  keyseats,  turning,  tapping,  threading 
and  milling  operations  on  steel  containing  a  high  per- 
centage of  carbon,  where  the  work  involved  is  unusually 
hard,  in  which  the  use  of  pure  lard  oil  is  wise.  In 
this  case  it  is  well  to  use  either  a  grade  known  as  "  prime 
lard  oil "  or  one  known  as  "  off-prime  lard  oil."  The 
amount  of  fatty  acid  in  the  former  does  not  usually  exceed 
2  per  cent.,  and  in  the  latter  the  percentage  is  only  slightly 
greater.  The  advantage  of  employing  these  grades,  where 
pure  lard  oil  is  indicated,  will  be  apparent,  as  they 
exert  little  or  no  detergent  effect  on  machine  tools, 
greater  speeds  are  possible  than  can  be  secured  with  chaper 
grades  of  oil,  and  they  give  most  excellent  service  from 
any  standpoint.  The  lower  grades,  known  as  "  extra  No. 
1  lard  oil "  and  "  No.  1  lard  oil,"  are  not  recommended. 
The  former  may  contain  as  high  as  10  per  cent,  of  fatty 
acid,  and  in  the  latter  this  element  may  reach  20  per 
cent.,  which  makes  it  undesirable  as  a  cutting  fluid. 

LARD  OIL  AND  LARD-OIL  MIXTURES 

A  large  percentage  of  the  heavy-duty  work  in  most  shops 
can  be  done  to  advantage  with  mixtures  of  lard  oil  and 
mineral  oil  or  a  good  quality  of  mineral  oil. 

For  automatics  and  for  general  screw-machine  work 
on  copper  and  steel  where  tapping  or  threading  constitutes 
a  part  of  the  operations  performed  a  lubricant  consisting 
of  equal  parts  of  lard  oil  and  mineral  oil  undoubtedly 
gives  the  best  service.  The  mineral  oil  should  be  of  fair 
quality,  and  the  cost  of  the  mixture  should  not  exceed 
35  to  40c.  per  gallon,  according  to  market  prices  on  lard 
oil.  This  makes  a  good  lubricant  of  excellent  body  and 
sufficiently  viscous  to  form  a  continuous  and  compara- 
tively thick  film  on  the  point  of  the  cutting  tool.  The  tools 
stand  up  well  and  require  less  grinding  than  is  the  case 
when  lighter-bodied  oils  are  employed. 

This  formula  for  cutting  oil,  designed  to  do  the  most 
difficult  operations  of  tapping  and  threading  copper  and 
steel  in  automatics  and  turret  machines  and  other  heavy- 
duty  work  on  steel,  is  more  satisfactory  and  more  econom- 
ical in  consumption  than  the  so-called  mineral  lard  oils 
and  screw-cutting  oils  generally  offered  to  the  manufac- 
turer. The  mineral  lard  oils  and  screw-cutting  oils  at 
prices  ranging  from  24  to  35c.  per  gallon  must  necessarily 
contain  an  increased  amount  of  mineral  oils  or  low- 
grade  petroleum  distillates,  in  order  to  yield  the  oil  manu- 
facturer or  dealer  a  profit.  If  the  consumer  mixes  his 
own  lubricant,  he  is  enabled  to  obtain  a  full-strength, 
equal-part  solution  of  the  two  oils  at  a  figure  as  low  as, 
or  lower  than,  he  is  compelled  to  pay  for  the  so-called 
special  cutting  oils  on  the  market.  And  this  equal-part 
mixture  has  greater  wearing  durability  and  keeps  the  tools 
in  better  condition. 

Any  statements  made  to  the  effect  that  the  mineralized 
lard  oils  or  screw-cutting  oils  can  be  employed  as  a  lubri- 
cant base  and  thinned  down  in  the  same  manner  in  which 
prime  lard  oil  or  off-prime  lard  oil  is  capable  of  being 
reduced  should  receive  careful  and  serious  consideration 
before  purchases  are  made. 

From  an  economical  standpoint  the  consumer  will  find 
it  wise  to  make  his  own  mixtures.  By  doing  this  he  has 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  quality  of  the  lubricants  employed 


(58) 


LUBRICATING  OILS  AND  CUTTING  COMPOUNDS  FOR  SHOP  USE 


on  his  machine  tools,  the  ingredients  composing  each  form- 
ula are  fully  within  his  control,  the  machine-tool  equipment 
is  better  conserved,  and  a  saving  of  at  least  25  per  cent,  in 
initial  cost  should  be  the  result. 

In  general,  for  the  purposes  of  drilling,  turning,  shap- 
ing and  cutting  off  of  steel  and  copper  and  also  for  all 
operations  on  brass  in  automatics,  semiautomatics  and 
multiple-spindle  turret  machines  a  good  quality  of  min- 
eral oil  not  exceeding  12  to  15c.  per  gallon  in  cost  gives 
excellent  service.  If  this  oil  has  a  proper  degree  of 
viscosity,  it  will  spread  a  continuous  film  on  the  point 
or  face  of  the  cutting  tool,  reducing  friction  and  pre- 
venting abnormal  heating  and  wear.  The  oil  should 
flow  freely  through  the  pump  and  supply  tubes.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  employ  the  higher-priced  mineral  oils, 


of   durability   as   the   equal-part   mixture   of  lard   oil   and 
mineral  oil. 

The  subject  of  cutting  lubricants  into  which  water 
enters  largely  as  a  component  part  of  the  formula  deserves 
careful  consideration.  The  number  of  these  compounds 
offered  on  the  market  in  recent  years  has  greatly  increased. 
The  manufacturer  is  pressed  to  make  a  trial  of  each  new 
brand,  with  the  assurance  that  it  is  far  superior 
to  anything  previously  put  forth,  both  in  the  quality 
of  the  mixture  itself  and  in  the  reduction  of  consumption 
cost  made  possible  by  its  use.  The  arguments  of  the 
salesman  are  frequently  clinched  with  the  statement  that 
the  new  compound  is  the  result  of  years  of  study  on  the 
part  of  some  scientist  whose  discovery  the  dealer  has  been 
fortunate  enough  to  secure  and  is  now  ready  to  sell  the 


screw-cutting  oils  or  mixed  lard  oils  for  this  class  of  work.       manufacturer  at  prices  that  will  revolutionize  the  expense 

This  grade  of  oil  is  also   suited  to  many  operations  on 

the  lathe,   miller,   keyseater,  etc.,  where   an   oil  lubricant 

of  comparatively  light  body  is  indicated.     It  not  only  keeps 

the  tools  cool,  but  wears  well  on  the  usual  classes  of  work 

performed  on  the  latter  type  of  machines. 

For  steel  sheet  punching  and  for  some  classes  of  draw- 
ing work  where  the  materials  are  not  too  heavy  this  grade 
of  oil  makes  a  satisfactory  lubricant.  It  will  be  found, 
in  competition  with  water  lubricants,  on  steel  sheet  to 
show  a  lower  cost  -per  running  hour  or  per  machine.  It 
also  keeps  the  dies  in  better  condition,  reducing  the  amount 
of  grinding.  For  the  heavier  work  of  drawing  cups  or  shells 
from  heavy  steel  sheets  an  oil  of  greater  body  is  necessary. 
This  may  be  prepared  by  mixing  lard  oil  and  mineral  oil 
in  proper  proportions. 


DETERGENT  EFFECT  OF  WATER  COMPOUNDS 

The  advocates  of  water  compounds  will  dispute  the  wis- 
dom, of  employing  oil  for  drawing  work,  but  it  is  always 
better  to  use  oil,  except  on  lighter  drawing  processes, 
unless  a  reduced  cost  per  operating  hour  or  a  reduction 
in  total  consumption  cost  can  be  shown  to  be  accomplished 
by  the  former.  The  claims  of  great  savings  effected  by 
the  water  compounds  are  frequently  not  borne  out  in 
actual  practice.  They  also  exert  a  detergent  effect  on 
machine  tools  in  many  cases,  while  oil  maintains  the  dies 
and  presses  in  good  condition.  The  factor  of  evapora- 
tion in  compounds  into  which  water  enters  largely  as  an 
ingredient  is  also  so  great  as  often  to  render  their  adop- 
tion uneconomical  and  often  prohibitive. 

A  large  number  of  manufacturers  still  cling  to  the 
practice  of  using  screw-cutting  oils  or  mineralized  lard 
oils  on  the  greater  percentage  of  their  work.  This  prac- 
tice in  many  cases  is  neither  warranted  nor  indicated  by 
the  conditions.  A  very  large  percentage  of  the  work  in 
most  factories,  with  the  exception  of  tapping  and  thread- 
ing operations  on  steel  and  copper,  can  be  done  with  a 
good  quality  of  mineral  oil  with  far  greater  economy.  This 
oil  can  be  purchased  at  prices  not  exceeding  12  to  15c.  per 
gallon. 

Some  manufacturers  prefer  a  mixture  of  lard  oil  and 
fuel  oil  or  of  lard  oil  and  kerosene  in  various  propor- 
tions for  cutting  lubricants.  These  mixtures  are  used 
in  bolt-threading  and  nut-tapping  machines  and  also  in 
automatic  and  hand  screw  machines.  While  the  initial 
cost  per  gallon  is  below  that  of  lard  oil  and  mineral  oil 
in  equal  proportions,  fuel  oil  or  kerosene  is  not  rec- 
ommended because  of  the  low  flash  point  of  these  oils. 
It  is  doubtful,  also,  if  these  formulas  give  the  same  degree 


of  tool  lubrication. 

CONFUSION  IN  LUBRICANT  PRACTICE 

The  progressive  manufacturer  desires  to  adopt  all 
reasonable  measures  to  keep  in  the  front  ranks  of  those 
aiming  toward  efficient  management  in  business,  with 
the  result  that  he  tries  out  many  of  these  so-called  new 
compounds,  hoping  thereby  to  save  large  sums  of  money, 
as  he  has  been  definitely  assured  he  can  do.  All  this  experi- 
menting tends  to  confusion  in  the  lubricant  practice  in 
his  shops  and  may  in  the  end  work  injury  to  his  machine- 
tool  equipment,  unless  these  tests  are  confined  to  a  very 
limited  number  of  machines  in  one  department  and  are 
conducted  for  a  long  period  of  time  before  the  use  of  the 
material  is  extended. 

A  large  percentage  of  the  cutting  lubricants  prepared 
with  water  have  a  detergent  effect  on  metal  surfaces, 
tend  to  wash  the  oil  from  the  bearings  and  slides  and 
to  gum  the  working  parts  of  machine  tools.  Many  dealers 
claim  that  their  compounds  do  not  have  a  corrosive  effect 
on  metal  surfaces  and  that  the  soluble  oils,  of  which  the 
better  grades  of  these  compounds  are  composed,  lubri- 
cate and  preserve  the  bearings  and  slides  of  the  machines. 
That  the  oil  portion  of  these  compounds  counteracts  to  a 
considerable  extent  the  chemical  action  of  the  water  is  con- 
ceded. 

In  general,  lubricants  having  water  as  a  component  part 
are  not  recommended  for  automatics,  hand  screw  machines 
or  any  class  of  machines  of  the  turret  type  where 
there  are  numerous  working  parts  —  exposed  or  other- 
wise —  with  which  it  will  come  in  contact.  The  factor 
of  evaporation  is  so  great  in  the  case  of  water  solutions 
and  the  wearing  quality  or  durability  of  these  solutions  so 
much  below  that  of  good  oils  as  to  render  the  economy 
effected  a  somewhat  negligible  quantity,  when  the  main- 
tenance of  machine-tool  equipment  in  prime  condition  is 
considered.  And  this  is  a  most  important  item  of 
expense  in  the  large  factory,  bearing  a  direct  relation  to 
the  investment  in  new  tools.  It  is  also  true  that  in 
many  instances  carefully  conducted  tests  will  indicate  the 
running  cost  per  hour,  or  for  a  definite  period,  of  a  water 
compound  to  be  in  excess  of  that  of  a  mixed  lard  oil, 
properly  porportioned,  or  of  a  good  grade  of  mineral  oil, 
while  the  arguments  in  favor  of  the  employment  of  oils 
on  the  previously  mentioned  types  of  machines  are  enhanced 
by  the  fact  that  with  the  use  of  oils  the  danger  of  corrosion 
is  entirely  eliminated. 

Water  compounds  may  be  employed  to  advantage  on 
certain  classes  of  work  and  on  certain  kinds  of  machine 


(59) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


tools  where  the  working  parts  are  few  and  the  danger 
from  the  action  of  water  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  On 
plain  horizontal  lathes  and  on  lathes  of  the  Gisholt  type, 
machining  steel,  etc.,  and  on  millers  and  drilling  machines 
operating  on  both  iron  and  steel  the  use  of  these  compounds 
is  indicated.  They  give  excellent  service,  also,  on  coldsaw 
work. 

In  using  water  compounds  on  gear-cutting  machines 
special  care  should  be  exercised  in  selecting  a  mixture 
that  will  not  in  any  degree,  however  slight,  gum  or  clog, 
as  otherwise  the  index  feed  may  be  thrown  out  of  true. 

For  the  lighter  machine  operations,  including  plain 
drilling  and  milling  processes,  a  simple,  standard  soap 
compound  of  good  quality  may  be  employed  to  advantage. 
For  vertical  drilling  machines  of  the  automatic-feed  type 
these  soap  compounds  are  adapted  to  quite  a  wide  range 
of  work  on  steel  and  iron.  They  are  sufficiently  viscous 
to  afford  a  fair  amount  of  lubrication  to  the  point  of  the 
tool,  and  at  the  same  time  the  tendency  to  heating  is 
largely  overcome  by  the  large  percentage  of  water. 

On  account  of  the  composition  of  soap  bases  and  rapid 
evaporation  of  water  these  compounds  require  more  or  less 
frequent  addition  of  water  or  of  the  stock  solution,  in 
order  to  maintain  a  proper  degree  of  specific  gravity 
throughout  the  run.  The  initial  cost  is  attractive  to  the 
consumer,  and  this  should  not  exceed  from  1/2  to  Ic.  per 
gallon  for  the  solution  when  prepared  ready  to  load  into 
the  machine. 

A  GOOD  COMPOUND  FOR  MANY  OPERATIONS 

A  good  compound  for  the  heavier  classes  of  work,  such 
as  milling  steel,  cutting  off  steel  on  coldsaws  and  turning, 
boring  and  facing  of  steel  castings  on  lathes  and  boring 
mills,  may  be  prepared  by  the  manufacturer  within  his 
own  plant  by  combining  a  good-quality  soap  base  with 
pure  lard  oil.  soda  and  water  in  proper  proportions.  The 
proportion  of  lard  oil  entering  into  the  formula  should 
be  graded  from  1  to  5  gal.  per  barrel  of  solution,  accord- 
ing to  the  class  of  work  to  be  done.  These  mixtures  will 
range  in  cost  from  2  to  8c.  per  gallon. 

This  formula  gives  good  service  on  a  variety  of  opera- 
tions on  metals  where  the  employment  of  a  water  com- 
pound of  heavy  body  is  indicated.  It  forms  a  strong, 
viscous  solution  that  flows  freely,  supplying  abundant 
lubrication  to  the  point  of  the  cutting  tool  and  at  the 
same  time  reducing  the  temperature  to  a  minimum.  The 
life  or  wearing  qualities  are  excellent,  due  to  the  per- 
centage of  pure  lard  oil  entering  into  its  composition. 
It  will  be  found  to  meet  the  severest  conditions  under 
which  a  water  compound  may  be  expected  to  work  to  advan- 
tage, while  the  initial  cost  of  the  several  proportions  or 
degrees  of  strength  of  the  formula  is  lower  in  most 
instances  than  the  various  dilutions  of  the  so-called  soluble 
oils  on  the  market.  In  general,  the  weakest  form  of  the 
solution,  costing  approximately  but  2c.  per  gallon,  will 
do  the  work  of  mixtures  costing  from  30  to  50  per  cent, 
more. 

A  good  compound  for  grinding  cams  and  cones  and  fin- 
ishing shafts  may  be  made  by  combining  lard  oil  and 
mineral  oil  with  a  soap  base,  soda  ash  and  water  in 
proper  proportions.  The  cost  of  this  mixture  should  not 
exceed  %c.  per  gallon  ready  to  load  into  the  machine. 
Notwithstanding  this  low  initial  cost,  it  proves  a  most 
satisfactory  lubricant  for  this  class  of  work.  The  ten- 
dency to  hold  metal  ojust  in  suspension  is  minimized  to  a 


degree  that  renders  it  specially  adaptable  to  automatic 
grinders  for  various  classes  of  finishing  operations.  The 
quality  of  work  obtained  is  equal  to  that  secured  by  any 
of  the  more  costly  preparations. 

APPLYING  SOLUBLE  LUBRICANTS  TO  TOOLS 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  operating  machines, 
with  soluble  cutting  lubricants  that  a  strong,  full  stream 
of  the  fluid  be  supplied  to  the  tool.  The  success  or  fail- 
ure of  a  lubricant  often  depends  upon  this  factor  as  much 
as  on  any  other.  It  is  sometimes  desirable  to  supply  the 
lubricant  to  the  tool  from  different  angles  with  more  than 
one  feed  pipe,  in  order  to  flush  the  cutting  point  or  edge 
to  the  fullest  degree  possible  and  also  to  lubricate  the 
work. 

The  method  of  application  has  more  to  do  with  results 
than  most  overseers  or  tool  operators  appreciate.  In 
shops  where  a  number  of  machine  tools  are  grouped  or 
arranged  in  series  a  system  of  overhead  tank  and  piping, 
conducting  the  lubricant  to  each  individual  tool  of  the 
group,  affords  an  efficient  method  of  lubrication.  Suffi- 
cient compound  to  operate  all  the  machines  for  a  given 
length  of  time  can  be  prepared  and  loaded  into  the  sup- 
ply tank,  thus  simplifying  the  labor  of  handling.  By 
the  introduction  of  proper  methods  of  supplying  the 
lubricant,  speeds  can  often  be  increased  and  additional  cut- 
ting tools  employed. 

As  previously  stated,  the  factor  of  evaporation  in  all 
cutting  lubricants  containing  water  is  important.  As  it 
is  necessary  to  add  a  small  percentage  of  water  daily  to 
the  tank,  after  the  machine  has  been  started,  a  careful 
inspection  should  be  made  at  intervals  to  keep  the  dilu- 
tion in  proper  proportion.  Unless  this  is  done,  the  cost 
of  operating  may  equal  or  exceed  that  of  clear  oil,  and 
no  economy  result.  Since  the  degree  of  evaporation  varies 
according  to  atmospheric  conditions,  it  is  not  sufficient 
to  add  an  equal  quantity  of  water  on  each  succeeding 
day. 

Metal  dust  and  other  foreign  matter  with  which  com- 
pounds come  in  contact  in  the  pan  or  tank  of  the  machine 
also  affect  the  specific  gravity  to  a  considerable  extent. 
It  is  desirable,  therefore,  to  use  those  compounds  in  which 
the  tendency  to  hold  metal  dust  in  suspension  is  modified 
to  as  great  a  _degree  as  possible.  Where,  stock  solutions 
of  compounds  are  prepared  and  stored  for  future  use, 
the  barrels  should  be  tightly  headed  to  prevent  evapora- 
tion and  the  solution  drawn  off  through  faucets  in  prefer- 
ence to  opening  the  barrel. 

The  number  of  lubricating  oils  and  cutting  compounds 
required  in  any  plant,  however  large,  is  generally  com- 
paratively limited,  and  the  more  simplified  the  practice 
the  more  economical  and  satisfactory  are  the  results 
obtained. 

CARE  AND  DISTRIBUTION  OF  OILS  AND  COMPOUNDS 

All  stocks  of  oils  and  cutting  compounds  should  be 
kept  in  a  central  storehouse  under  the  supervision  of  a 
competent  person  to  whom  orders  can  be  sent  by  the 
various  foremen  for  such  supplies  as  are  needed  for  their 
current  use.  All  solutions  or  compounds  should  be  pre- 
pared at  the  oil  house  and  delivered  to  the  departments 
on  signed  orders  only.  It  is  not  good  practice  to  allow 
the  foreman  or  boss  of  a  department  to  make  up  mixtures 
according  to  his  own  judgment  of  what  may  be  required 
for  his  work.  Thig  procedure  fends  to  confusion  and 


(60) 


LUBRICATING  OILS  AND  CUTTING  COMPOUNDS  FOR  SHOP  USB 


prevents  establishing  and  maintaining  a  uniform  practice 
throughout  the  factory  on  similar  processes.  There  is 
a  common  tendency  among  shop  foremen  to  make  up 
mixtures  of  their  own  for  special  jobs  or  to  use  a  dif- 
ferent oil  from  their  neighbors  on  similar  classes  of  opera- 
tions and  metals.  There  is  not  only  no  economy  effected 
under  this  method,  but  on  the  contrary  there  is  certain 
to  be  conspicuous  loss.  The  manufacturer  will  be  con- 
stantly called  upon  to  purchase,  either  for  trial  or  per- 
manent use,  some  oil  or  compound  not  already  in  stock, 
to  suit  the  whim  or  fancy  of  the  individual  overseer  or 
workman. 

A  printed  schedule  of  practice  should  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  section  superintendents  or  head  foremen  of 
each  department,  showing  the  various  kinds  of  lubricants 
to  be  used  for  all  classes  of  work  throughout  the  factory. 
The  oilhouse  keeper  should  be  provided  with  a  record 
giving  the  formulas  he  is  to  prepare  and  keep  in  stock. 
He  should  also  be  provided  with  schedules  showing  the 
kinds  of  oils  or  compounds  to  be  used  in  the  several  depart- 
ments, together  with  the  names  of  foremen  eligible  to  draw 
these  materials.  An  additional  list  including  the  names 
of  foremen  eligible  to  draw  pure  lard  oil  should  also  be 
in  his  possession. 

STANDARDIZING  LUBRICANT  PRACTICE 

With  these  data  he  is  enabled  carefully  to  scrutinize 
all  orders  received  and  question  the  filling  of  any  orders 
calling  for  lubricants  which  the  foreman  is  not  scheduled 
to  use.  By  following  this  system  the  manufacturer  will 
find  that  he  is  enabled  to  secure  absolute  uniformity  of 
practice  in  his  shops,  and  in  addition  to  this  he  is  enabled 
to  control  consumption  within  the  limits  of  production 
requirements  and  prevent  undue  waste. 

A  good  supply  of  small  cans  and  spouts  should  always 
be  kept  in  stock,  so  that  no  leaky  cans  may  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  workmen. 

Analyses  and  tests  should  be  made  at  intervals  on  all 
oils  purchased,  in  order  to  insure  against  adulterations 
and  also  to  keep  the  standard  of  quality  up  to  the  spec- 
ification as  provided  for  in  the  original  contract  made 
with  the  oil  refiners  or  dealers. 

A  record  should  be  made  of  all  oils  and  compounds 
delivered  to  the  various  departments.  Regular  monthly 
reports  should  be  issued  to  the  superintendents  of  sec- 
tions and  also  to  the  head  foremen  of  departments,  in 
order  to  keep  them  advised  of  the  rate  of  consumption 
and  enable  them  to  control  the  supplies  of  lubricants  used 
within  the  portions  of  the  factory  under  their  jurisdiction. 
These  reports  are  also  criticized  by  the  general  superin- 
tendent or  factory  economist  and  the  attention  of  the 
department  heads  called  to  any  excess. 

Preventing  Local  Shrinkage  in 
Aluminum  Castings 

BY  F.  WEBSTER 

In  making  aluminum  pattern  plates  difficulty  was 
experienced  from  surface  cavities  opposite  each  deep  part, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  1.  It  had  been  customary  to  mold  these 
plates  with  the  deep  parts  in  the  drag,  using  a  riser  over 
each  thick  place. 

A  method  of  molding  them  in  the  cope  is  now  practiced 
with  great  satisfaction.  The  same  pattern  serves  as  before. 


but  reversed;  and  wire  vents  are  made  in  the  sand  over 
each  piece.  Also,  there  is  used  on  the  plate  a  riser  having 
a  form  of  a  pyramid  instead  of  a  cylinder,  so  as  to  prevent 


..-Sunken 


Dray 


FI6.E 


Pyramid  Riser  instead 
of  circular  toprerenf 
shrinking'  on  surface 
ofp/ate 


PREVENTING  SURFACE  SHRINKAGE  ON  HEAVY  PARTS 
OF  ALUMINUM  CASTINGS 

a  sunken  ring  around  the  riser.     Fig.  2  shows  the  arrange- 
ment. 

[Surface  shrinkage  on  heavy  parts  is  caused  by  their 
cooling  more  slowly  than  the  light  parts. '  It  can  be  cured 
in  many  cases  by  the  insertion  of  metal  chills  in  the  mold 
surfaces  of  the  heavy  parts.  These  equalize  the  cooling  and 
prevent  surface  shrinkage. — Editor.] 

Adjustable  Driver 

BY  A.  E.  HOLADAY 

The  accompanying  sketch  shows  a  dog  driver  for  a 
universal  milling  machine.  All  dog  drivers  for  milling 
machines  have  two  screws  A,  one  on  each  opposite  end. 
In  making  special  small  tools  it  is  desirable  a  great 

B  A 


1 


o 


LLD 

A 


B 


ADJUSTABLE    DRIVER 


many  times  to  move  the  tail  of  the  dog  a  few  thou- 
sandths of  an  inch  in  milling  flutes  or  for  clearance. 
By  placing  two  additional  screws  B  on  the  driver  it 
is  possible  to  get  very  close  adjustments,  and  I  have 
found  it  has  saved  my  departments  a  great  amount  of 
time. 


(61) 


iimmiiimiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiMiiimiiimiiiMiiimmimmiimiimiiiiiimiiiimiimimiiiiiiiimmiiimiiM 


From   A 


otelbooli 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SHAFT-STRAIGHTENING  PRESS 
MADE  WITH  I-BEAM 


REMOVING  BROKEN  TAP  EASILY 
WITH  Two  PUNCHES 


CLOSE-QUARTER 

DRILL 

MADE  IN 

AUTO  EEPAIR 

SHOP 


Speedometer 
Universal  Joint-'' 


BELT  LACE,  SPLIT  IN 
THE  BENCH  VISE 


EASILY  MADE  PUNCH 
rou  THIN  SHEETS 


SWIVEL- 
FILING  TABLE 
FOR  STRAIGHT 
SURFACING 


TAPER  V-BLOCKS  FOR 
CROSS  DRILLING 


AN  EASY  WAY  TO  LIFT 
A  PLANER  CHUCK 


Tapered 
Surface  <-  -. 


,  Vise  asadl  As§emmbMinif| 


iimmmmmmimiiiiNiiiimiiiimiim 


iiiimiimiiilmiimimiiiiMiiimiimiimiimimHiMillllMlilMmillllimiimiiiimiimiimHimMiimiiimmHmnimnmiimni^^ 

(62) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 

ymiiimiiumimi 'miimiiNiiuiiiiiiimiimiimiminiiiimMiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiimiiiMiiiiiiiimmiiimiiumimiiiiiim 

THREADING  THE  END  OF  A  LONG  SHAFT  ON  Two  LATHES 


SIMPLE  THREAD 

CLEANER 


THIS  ENGINE  LATHE  Is  TACKLING 
A  BORING  MILL  JOB 


CENTER-OILING 
DEVICE 


SHEARING  SMALL  PINS 
IN  THE  LATHE 


ARRANGING  A  LATHE 
FOR  MILLING 


CENTER-BEARING 
SWAB 


SIMPLE  BUT  EFFECTIVE 
FOLLOW  REST 


RIGID  BORING  WITH 
PILOTED  BAR 


Tflaaft 


ILatlhxes 


Imnnntiiiiiiiniminiimiimiiiimiiiimiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiimiiiiimiimmiiiiiimi n iiiiiiriiiiiiiiriiiiiimiiirMiriiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiin mint iiMiiimiiimiiiiiiiraraimnmiitnimiimiitmiiitiiimiiuiiiiimmtiiiiiiiniitlmmiiiniiiiiS 

(63) 


yiiiwmiiiiimimiJiiLNiiimiiimiiLiijiiiriHJUMinmiimmiinimiHMiimiimi 


nimiH£ 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


THREE  DEVICES  THAT  SQUARE  UP  A  HAND  TAP 


Makes   it   easy   to  start  a 
tap  square  with  the  work. 


A  faced  nut  will  do  when 
nothing   else    is  at   hand. 


EASY  LOCAL  ANNEALING 
OF  SAW  BLADES 


SIMPLE  HAND  FIXTURE 
•     FOR  WIRE  KINGS 


Melted  lead  does  the  job 
so  one  can  file  a  keyway 


MAKING  AN  ACCURATE 
TEMPLET 


This  device  will  take  up 
little  room  and  pays  rent. 


A  PIPE  WRENCH  FOR 
EMERGENCIES 


A  bit  of  round  file  blade  or 
a  short  stud  will  do  as  well. 


Small    errors    can    be 

seen  easily  through 

the  glass. 


OIL  GROOVING  WITH 
TWIST  DRILL 


An    electric   or  air   drill   will 
make  oil  grooves  in  jig  time. 


= 
£1111111 


mimmi:iimmi:itii 


BENCH,  VISE  AND  ASSEMBLING  METHODS 

"'"" UMimniimiimiiimMiiiiimiimiiii mini iiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiimiiiiiiiiiiiiuiimiiiiiiiimuiiiimmiiiuimi i i iiiumiiiimiiimmiim i IIIIIIMIIIIIIII 

(64) 


urn minimus 


FKOM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


aiinnimiiiii 


iiilllin illiiinii Ulllllllllilllllliillllllinill i il miimiimm iiiiiiiiinim iiiniiiiuilll mill ml mimimimimiimiimilmlimmillllimillimuimillllllllllimilll I llllimmilllllllllllllll HI. 

TURNING  A   CONCAVE  SURFACE 


A  THIN  TUHE  TAPPING  KINK 


A  mandrel  with  large  centers 
is  all   of  the   rigging  needed. 


A  FOLLOW  REST  FOB 
SMOOTH  STOCK 


Thin   tubes  chucked  like  this 
will  tap  without  distortion. 


MULTIPLE  FACING  TOOLS 
IN  LATHE 


Facing  shoulder  lengths  on  a 
quantity    of  duplicate   pieces. 


Good  for 'springy  shafts. 


SELF-LUBRICATING 
TAIL  CENTER 


RIGGING  UP  A  TAPER 
ATTACHMENT 


Will  not  heat  or  cut- 


Lathes  without  taper  attachments  can   be 
made  more  flexible  by  using  this  rig. 


SIMPLE  BALL-TURNING 
FIXTURE 


The  bearing  box  is  split  and 
clamps   the  tool   to  its  cut. 


FORM  TURNING  IN  THE 
ENGINE  LATHIS 


The  screw  machine  need  not  have  it  all  its 
own    way    in    the    form    turning    of    steel. 


DEVICES  THAT  MAKE  LATHES  PROFITABLE 

"""l" ' miilmiimilimiimilimiliMiimiimiimiliiimimilimiimiimim nmmnimimiimi Ill "iiimiimimiiiiiiiiiiiinmi'miiiimm mimiimimill mum in 

(65) 


iimimiiiiiimimmiiiiiniimiiitt 


gilllllliiniuilimuiiliimimiiiiiiimlliliuiimiiimiimilllinimiiuilllliu iii»iiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii>iniiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiniiMiiiiiii»i»iiiHiuinniiiiMiiMii»inNiiM»u>MiiiniMiiiii»iiiinuiimiiiiiiiiiiniuiiuiuiiuiiiiiiii«u»ii]iiiiuiiiii»iiiiiiuiiii»ii£ 


BY  JOHN  IT.  VAN  DEVENTER 


PROFILE  BORING  WITH 
TAILSTOCK  TEMPLET 


A  SCREW-MACHINE  JOB 
IN  THE  LATHE 


TURNING    A    CURVE 
WITHOUT  TEMPLET 


SIMPLE 
CENTERING 
"MACHINE" 


ADJUSTABLE 
ARBOR 

FOR  HEAVY 
WORK 


A  SPECIAL  TOOL  POST 
FOR  CRANK  PINS 


USING  A  PIPE  TAP 
AS  A  CHASER 


ONE  WAY  TO  MAKE 
A  HEAVY  SPRING 


DEVICES  THAT  MAKE  LATHES  PROFITABLE 


--iiminiiimnrHirimritmimirmniiimi 


iimmmiiHMimiiiiMmiimiiiMimiiimiiirmimimiiiniNiimmiimimirmrmm 

(66) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


ummmimuiiiiiinmiiimmiiiimiimimu umimimimiimiiiimmimimiiimimmimiiimimiiiiiiimiimmmiiiiiMiuiiiiiMmmi miimmimiinminiimimmiimimnimiiiiimmiiiiiMiiimimmiiimimMimiuiiimiiiiimimiiimiimimimiiiimmmiiiMi 


DIE  FOR  DRAWING 
LIGHT  TUBING 


TUMBLING 
"BARREL  v 


THIS  GIVES  REDUCED 
SIZE  OF  TAP 


FOKJI  MILLING 
TO  TEMPLET 


.(  HvriaUcdcidJPqrt 

'[  Nitric  Acid.  8  Parts 
1.- Hot- Soda  Solution 
3- Hot  Water 
4-  Sawdust 


SAVES  TIME  ON 
BUSHINGS 


BENT  TIN  FOR  TAP 
ENLARGING 


GRADUATED  PUNCH-BAR 
FOR  SPACING 


Tiri 


SAVES  TOOLS  WHEN 
SLOT  DRILLING 


TURRET  WORK  ON 
BORING  MACHINE 


COTTON  WASTE  Is 
ALSO  USED 


HEATING  THE  TAP 
ENLARGES  IT 


A  VARIETY  OF  TIME-SAVING  KINKS 

?iimnHimimiimir;;iiimm:itt«w  :mmiiiifii::!mtiimm 

(67) 


HmmimimtmiimiiiM I I immimi II II I I nimiiinmimiiiii iiiiiiniuilll iniiiillmliiilmnii m IIMlllllllllllllllilliiiiiiiillllllllllMIIIMIlllllllllllll Illllllllllllll mimiimiimiiiiiiiii!iiimliii,m'± 


BY  JOHX  II.  VAN  DEVENTER 


COMBINATION  END  STOP 
AND  SIDE  CLAMP 


THE  SHARER  BORROWS 
THE  LATHE  CHUCK 


CHIP  EJECTORS  FOR 
TABLE-NUTS, 


ONE  MAN  RUNNING  Two  PLANERS  NEEDS 
THIS  SIGNAL 


HOME-MADE  STEEL 
ECONOMIZER 


ADJUSTABLE  V-BLOCK  FOR  THE  PLANER 


A  TAPER  GIB  CURES  LOOSE  CLAPPERS 


iiimimmiiMiiimmiiMimimiiiiiiiuiiimiHmilimmmilMmi'iiiHimiimiimimiiimm iiiiliiliilliiiiiiiiilliiiiiiiiiiriiiiilMHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiililiiiiiiiiiiiiTiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiriiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiriiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiii nmni 

(68) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


aw num. n mill :im iiiiiinii n I luiiniiiiiiiniiuiiiii umimmimimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiii iimimimiiimuim minimi iiiiu mm: iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin iinniiiiii miiiiimuiiiiiiiiu 


PULLING  A  STUD  WITH 
A  SPLIT  NUT 


STRAIGHTENING  SHAFTS  IN  PLACE 


JIGS  CAN  BE  USED  ON 
VISES  Too 


GETTLNG  A  GRIP  ON  A 
STUBBORN  PIN 


A  SWINGING  DRAWER  FOR  THE  SMALL  TOOLS 


HOLDING  SHORT  SCREWS 
FOR  SLOTTING 


LAYING  OUT  MITERS  ON  BARS.  ADJUSTABLE  WIRE  KINK-REMOVER 

SiiiimiiiiiiMiimiiiiiMiiimtiiiiiiiiimmiimiimiHMMimiimiiiimiiMiiiiimMiiimiimiiiiimimnM 

(69) 


From  a  Small -Shop  Notebook 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


THis1  DOG  Is  SAFE. 

BUT  HAS  A  Vicious  BITE 


CELLULOID  Is  TRANSPARENT 
BUT  IT  STOPS  BRASS  CHIPS 


TmsWEDGECHUCK  MADEGOOD 

ON  PIECEWORK 


SCREW  CAPS  ARE  HELD  FIRMLY 
AND  RELEASED  QUICKLY 


IMPROVISED    FOLLOW    REST 
WITH    SCREW   ADJUSTMENT 


CUTTING  BRASS  OIL  RINGS  ON  A  WOOD  ARBOR 


"MIKES-  H*;LP  TO  SQUARE  THE  ANGLE  PLATE 


(TO) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


A  HAMMER.  SOLDERING  IRON,  PULL  AND  PATIENCE  WILL  TAKE  A  KINK  OUT  OF  A  CLOSED  BOILER 


BURGLAR.PROOF  WOOD  SCREWS 
FOR  CUPBOARDS 


THIS  TAPER  CHUCKING  BLOCK 
HELPS  THE  VISE  HAND 


SOMETIMES  A  PULLEY  OR  FLYWHEEL 
JMusT  BE  REBORED 


PUTTING  A  HANDLE  ON  THE  TEMPLET 
HELPS  IN  FITTING 


WING  NUTS  ARE  HELD  FIRMLY 
IN  SPLIT  SQUARE  NUTS 


SLIDING  BLOCKS  ON  SCALES  AID  IN  SETTING  CALIPERS  THIS  EMERGENCY  WRENCH  is  HANDY  TO  HAVE  AROUND 

(71) 


Siiiiiniimiuuiimiiiiiiiimiiiu mi iimiiii HI iiiiimiiiiimiiiiiiimimiiiiiiii miiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiii n i urn iiiiiiiiiiiiilinriiirifiiniimiiiii inn immiimnmmiiimih 


BY  JOHN  II.  VAN  DEVENTER 


DIAM  A 


BOTH  THE  STOCK  AND  THE  BUSHING 
ARE  HELD  BY  THE  JAWS 


THIS  SCHEME  CONVERTS  A  "DRILL  PRESS" 
INTO  A  BORING  MACHINE 


A  SIMPLE  FLAT  REAMER 
WITH  WOOD  PACKING 


A  "STAR  FEED"  FACING  TOOL  FOR 
THE  DRILLING  MACHINE 


ADJUSTABLE   BORING   CUT- 
TER FOR  FINISHING  HOLES 

i 
i 


CONVENIENT  V-BLOCKS  ABE  SOMETIMES  MADE 
FROM  ROUND  PIPE 


Tins  UNIVERSAL  V-BLOCK  WILL  HOLD  ROUND' 
STOCK  AND  SPHERES 


HELPING  THE  DRILLING  MACHINE  TO  EARN  A  PROFIT 

""mm i miiiiilimillliiiimmilimiim i i iMiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiliiiiiilililiiliillllllliii iiliiiiuil iiimimiimiiiiimiimiminiimiimiimniiii iimiimilllllliliiimiimiiiilliniliiiniimiiiiiiiiimiim inniltu 

(72) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


H limn lllllllllllimiimi minim; mm iiimiiiiimiimimiiiini lllllllllllllllll i iiiiiim u i iiiiiiiiimnii limn mil iinnm nun mimiimii mm mini inn mini 


A  WAY  OF  EXTRACTING  BROKEN  TAPS  THAT  Is  WORTH  REMEMBERING 


\ 


THESE  V-BLOCKS  ABE  GUIDED 
BY  Two  ROUND  BARS 


A  FIREPROOF  RECEPTACLE 
FOR  WELDING  AND  BRAZ- 
ING TORCHES 


THIS  PIPE  WRENCH  WILL  NOT 
INJURE  FINISHED  WORK 


EVERY  TOOL  MAKER  SHOULD  HAVE 
A  SET  OP  THESE  CLAMPS 


THIS  TRIPLE  TAP  WRENCH 
BELIEVES    IN    PREPARED- 
NESS 


WHEN  You  MUST  USE  A  "DUTCHMAN,"  THIN  DISKS  MAY  BE  "TURNED"  ROUND, 

PUT  IT  IN  RIGHT  ON  A  SQUARE  SHEAR 

fiiumiinmmiiiiiii 'mini imiiiimimiHimiiiimimmiuiimmmHiiluMmmimnimilirnimmiiiimimimmmiiiiimmiimiNimmillim 

(73) 


imiimiiimmmiimiiimiimuiiiiumii iiiimuuiiiiiiiuiiimjiiuiiiiiuiiiiuiiiuiiiiimiuuiiuuiiiuuiiiiiuuiiiiuiiiiiuiiiuiiuiiiiiiiiuiiiiiu 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTEK 


A  WIDE  VARIETY  OP  LOCKNUTS  AND  LOCKING  DEVICES  FOUND  TO 


iimiiMiiiii'iiiiiiiimiimmmiiimm lllllllllllllill uillllllluilllllliuiiilMlllllinuulni iniiinii mill milimimiimmlMlimillimimillMllimiiLiiimillimimilimmmimil llinilinnil 11:11111 Ill inie 

(74) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


I 


mi  .....  iiiiiiiiiiiiilliliiililiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiMlliinilinillliiliiililMllllllllMlliniiiiiiMiimiimilliniliiiiiilllllll  .....  mimimiHiiimimi  .........  iniMiiniiiiiMiiuini  ......  unit  .....  Minimum  ..........  iiiiiuiiiiiiiiiimiinu  .....  I  .....  iiiiiiiiiimmmiiimi  .....  nun 


ni 


MEET  PRACTICAL  REQUIREMENTS  IN  VARIOUS  CLASSES  OP  WORK 


(75) 


iiimiiimimiitiimmimiimiiuiiimHiiimiiniimiimiiimimii 


iiuiimiimiiiiiimimmimmiim 


jinilllltmillimil.millMlli.miimmilMUimiimim mini iiiuiiiillllllllll unit llimiumuimill mm minimum mimuuillmnm I nillnniillllllllllllllllimilllillllllllUllllllim mimnmimil 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTEK 


Punch 


A  NUT  THAT  WORKS  LOOSE  HAS  LITTLE  VALUE 


mminnnmiMinmiM iiimiiiiiiini niniiiiiirmiiiuiiiiiiii 

(76) 


niiiiHimiiimmi imaitl 


PROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 

•JlimimmiilimmillimmilMlMllimillllllllimillimimillimmiiimmimiiim iniiiMiiimi iiiimiimimiiiiiiiiiimiimiiMiiimimimim iiniciiiiii MIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII mi itlllllllllinilllllllH nil 


Copper 


THESE  PAGES  SHOW  A  NUMBER  OF  WAYS  OF  LOCKING  NUTS 


n „ ,„, ,„„„„„„„„„„„„„„ miiuii1nm.raii1i,,«,,,,ra,,,»,MumHih«i,»ni,, .imimmimm, nmnmmnmimmiimmi, mi „„»»,„,»„, „<„ 

(77) 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


EMERGENCY  INDICATOR 


INTERNAL  SPHERICAL  TURNING 


A   FACEPLATE  TESTER 


THE  UTILITY  OF  BALL  CENTERS  IN  TAPER  TURNING 
(78) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


KEEP  YOUR  SOLDERING  IRONS  CLEAN  AND  DON'T  BURN  THE  TABLES 


SAFETY  FIRST"  ON  MANDREL  CENTERS 


AN  "ALL-IN-ONE"  ANGLE  SQUARE 


GEAR  DENTISTRY 


A  CENTER  SQUARE 


AVOID  HUNTING   FOR  TOOLS 


ECCENTRIC  STUD  DRIVER 


HAND-TURNING  DEVICE 
(79) 


CONVERTIBLE  PIPE  VISE 


uiiuniinmiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiimiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiinniiii iiiMiiiimiiiiuiiimi.iimiiimimiiin IIIMIIIIIIIIIII i iimiiraiimiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiuiiiiiiiraiimniiiiimiiiimiiiiitniuiniiii'in niiiiiiiiiiiiiiinr 


»maIl-Sliop 

BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVKNTEU 


\ 


A  RIGID  RIG  FOR  KEYWAYING 


PLANING  A  CONCAVE  RADIUS 


CUTTING  SPIRALS  ON  PLANER 


RACK-CUTTING  ON  THE  PLANER 


-- 


"SHORTENING"  A  JACK  ,  PLANING  TO  A  TEMPLET 

SOME  USEFUL  PLANER  KINKS 
\ 

iillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlilllllllllllll IIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIinilllR 

(80) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 

•Jllm i iiiiiiiiiimiiiimn mi iiiiiiiiiiiiimm iiiiiiiiimiiim r         '1111111111111 inimiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiimi i iniiiuiiiiiiiilliiiiiiiiiii uiiiiiiiiiuilililllilllllliuiiuuiiiuiiiuillllllllllllllllllllliuiiuillllllllliiiiiuiuilliiiuii^ 

I 


BallRearingCwKr 


A  VAIIIETY  OF  EXPANDING  ARBORS 


1IIIIIIIIMI1III11IIIII 11llllUintlinMIIHIIII1IIIMIII1lllllllllllllllllllllUllf1IIMIIIlll!UllinilMlllinilinilMIIIHIIIUIIIllllltltMlilMlllllllllllMMIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllll 

(81) 


iiimiimimiim miimiimiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiimiimiimiimiimmimm mill 


mmmiiiimiiimmiimiimimmimiiiiiimmiim iiinuilllll llillll I lllllliiiliiiiiiilinn imminmimimimmMmmiimnillll Uniuiimmiinimilllinmnimilllimmillllllllinillllll llllllllllnillV 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


BENDING  WITH  FLATTER  AND  BLOCKS 


ONE  METHOD  OF  MAKING  KINGS 


KEEPS  THE  BAE  STOCK 
HIGH  AND  DRY 


DOUBLE-END  TONGS  THAT 
WILL  NOT  SLIP 


THE  SMALL-SHOP  SMITH'S  HELPER 


Two  LITTLE  DEVICES  THAT  COME  IN  HANDY  WHEN  BRAZING  PIPE 
THE  SMALL-SHOP  BLACKMITH  Is  A  BUSY  MAN 


5111111 nnilliiliimiiimiiiiiiiimiiiiim iimmmiiifiimmui mini minium 


miiiMiiimiiniiimiiimiiimmiimiimnmimi 

(82) 


iiimiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiimimiim mimiiiuiimiimiiii 


Illllimimilimllllllllllllll'llUllllmlim. 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 

jjiiiiiiiimiiiiimiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiumiiiiiiimiimim 


FOR  HEATING  SMALL  PARTS  THESE  SIMPLE  TEICKS  ARE  USEFUL 


BLACKSMITH'S  TAPER  GAGE 


DIVIDERS  FOR  RING 
WORK 


KEEPS  THE  ANVIL  FROM  JUMPING  AND 
KILLS  VIBRATION 


SPRING  FULLERS  ARE  HANDY 


CRANE  MADE  FROM  IRON 
PIPE 


STOCK-MEASURING  GAGE  FOU  ANVIL  THKSE  TONGS  TAKE  A  LARGE  OR  A  SMALL  BITE 

THESE  USKRM,  KINKS  WILL  HELP  HIM  SAVE  MONEY 


aiiiiiiiimmimiiiimiiimimiimiimmiiiiiiiiimimmiimiimmimmm iimimmimmmimiim minimum 


imiimimiimni mum mum i i , mull nilllllll iilimimiinniimm llllllllllllimmilll 5 

(S3) 


iiiiiniiimiiiiiiiii i INIIIII iiiiliiiiiiiniiiiuiiinn niiiiiiiimiimiiiiiiiiiui iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiintiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmiiiii iniimiiuiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiin mini iiiiiiiiiiiiiiinili limn iimuimmin 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 
PATTERN  TURNING  ON  THE  PLANER  HANDY  CLAMP  FOR  BAR  KEYWAYING 


PLANING   THE   OVER- 
SIZE JOB 


A  TOOL  THAT  WILL 
CUT  SLOTS 


QUICK  DETACHABLE  PLANER 
BOLTS 


A  HOME-MADE  FOOT- 
DRIVEN  SIIAPER 


THE  KAM  OF  THE  SHAPER  MAKES  A  PAIR  PUNCH  FOR  THIN 

STOCK 


PLANER  AND  SHAPER  DEVICES  THAT  SAVE  MONEY 

lltmHiimnmiMiniimuimiHiiiimiuimiHiimiuiHiiuiiuimiiimiiiinmiiMmnimiiiiimHiiiiiimimim 

(84) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SPIOP  NOTEBOOK 


jiitiimiiuijiiimm luiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiuiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiuuuiiuiiiiiiiuuuuiuiiuiiiuuiiiiimiiuiiiiiuiiiiiuiiiuiiuuiuuiiiiiiuiiiniiiuiiiiiiiiniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiii niiiiiimii miimmiimiiiii mmnMmiiiiimiUHiiimiiiiiwiiimiiwiiiiiiiiiwiiiuiiiuiiuiiiuut» 


A  COLLECTION  OF  BELT-CUTTING  DEVICES 

i iimmiimiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiim mil iiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiuiiiiiiimiiiimiiiiimiiiiiiiiiwiiimiiiiniimimmiimim uiiimiiimiiiuiiiii miimiiiimnimimmmiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiim iiiimiiiiimiiiiiiiiiinniiuiiiii n mum IIIIIIH: 

(85) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


rmumitiimiimiiiiiiiiimiimmiiiimimimiiimmiimmimiimi^^^^ 


IIIIIUIIC 


A  KuMBEit  OF  WAYS  To  CUT  PINS  IN  QUANTITIES 

iiiniiiiiiiiiiiiminiiiiiimiiiuiiiiiiimiii inn iiiiiiiiiiMiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiini iiiunii uiiiiiiiin na!:i iimnnnim iiiiiiiiiiiimmiimiiiiiiiiiiuiiimuiimm mmcirmimmmmiiiniiiimimiiiiiuiiiiimiiiii 

(86) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


iiiiiniiiiii iimmmnmimimi nil llllllllllllllllllllllll I II inn mimmiMmmii iiiiiiiimi inn iiiiiiiiniii urn I immiu mi iiiiiini miiimmlmum llllllllllllllllllllllll Illinium; 


SPRING  WINDING,  TOOLING,  AND  CUTTING  AND  OTHER  KINKS' 

rimmimiiiililllll minium iimmmiiiimimmimiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiim iiiiini imiinmiim IIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIMII iiiiiiini iiiiiiimi imiiiuii iiiiiiiiiiiiuiiui 1111 iiimm 


(87) 


iii iiiimiiiuiiiiitiiiiiliiiuiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiimiimiiimii uiiiiuiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiimiiiMiiii iiiiiiiiiiiimniimiimiimiimiiimiimiimmiiiiim u nun iiiimiiiiiiiiuimtiiimiimiiimim 


•JIII1IIII1III 


From   a   Small-Shop   Notebook 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


VARIOUS  METHODS  OF  DRIVING  AND  PULLING  BUSHINGS 


(88) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


fiiiiHIINlllllimillll iiimiiimmiiiimimlimiiimiimii llllllllllllllllllllllllll iniiiniiininniiiniiinii nil < mil iiiiini iiiiini in inn I nil iiniin.liniinn nnnniinill nninnii nil 


mini 


CUTTING  A  LONG  OIL  GROOVE 


PLUGGING  THE  ENDS  OF  THE  OIL  GROOVE 


VARIOUS  METHODS  OF  PULLING  BUSHINGS 

imiiiimimiumiiimirmimiiiiiimiiniimiiiiiiimimiiiMii'Mimimimiimiiiiimmiiiiiimiiniiniiiiimimimm 

(89) 


uununlnJ 


iiituiiiiiiiiiiiniiKiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiciiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiitim iiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiinmiiuii 


riiini 


From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTEU 


ROTARY  HUNG 


PUNCHING  IN 
DRILL  PRESS 


MAKING  THE  DRILLING  MACHINE  EARN   DIVIDENDS 


illUmilimmmimilimmiimimiimiimiimilimi^^ 

(90) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


-•niiniiiiniiiiiimiiiiiiiiim iiiiiiiiiiMiiMiiiiininnii iiiiiiiiimiliimmilliiiiliiiiiimiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiii inn miiiiiimiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiii iiinnii i uiliiilllillinillllillllllllllllllllliluillllllllMilililllllilllllMllllluilllllluillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllluU 

1 


BEND 


DRILL 


STRAIGHTEN 


DRILLING    A     CURVED    HOLE 


DEPTH  GAGE 


SPRING    WINDING 


DRILLING  AND    COUNTERSINKING 


WEDGE   CLAMPING 


FLOATING  JAW  CLAMP 


BENCH   AND   VISE   KINKS   OP   SHOP   VALUE 


iiiiiniiMiiiiiiiuiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiitMiiniiiiiuiiiiMiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniii1-  • 


(91) 


luiuiiiiuiiiuMiiuiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiuiiiiuiiiiiiiitiiMiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiniiiiiiiiuiiiiuiiiitiiiiiiiiii'iiiiuiimiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuw 


From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


CIRCULAR  DIVIDING 


SPIRAL  SHAPING 


SHAPING 


CIRCULAR 
SHAPING 


STUNTS  THAT  MAKE  SHAPERS  EARN  PROFITS  AND  PAY  DIVIDENDS 


i  I 

..liilmiliilllll mini Illlllll lllllllll Illllll UIIIIIIIHIIIIII|llllllllllllllllinillllllinilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllinilllllli:i>lllll|rMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIU!llllllllllllll!IIIIIIIMIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIII!ll IIIUIIUIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIUIOIIIIIIIIimiimilllB 

(92) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 

iiiinmiimimiiiiuiiim iiimiiiiiiiiiiiimiim HIUIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII iniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiini miiitiiiruiiuiiiiiim iiiiiiiiiiiini iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiimiiiiiiiuiiniiiiini nil imiiii iiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiinii| 


FOLDING  SOCKET  WRENCH 


FASTENING 
ABRASIVE  CLOTH 


INTERNAL  HARDENING 


I 

limp 


ADD   THESE   BENCH   AND   VISE   KINKS   TO   YOUR  COLLECTION 


niiiniiiiiiiiiimiiiiimimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiimimmi 


iiuiiliuiiiiiiuNiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiii 

(93) 


aniiiiiuiiiiiiiiu iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiimiiimiimnm iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiu i mm n miimiiuiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiuiiiimimiiimiimiiiuimi unmnimiiiii i iiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiu 


i 


From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 


BY  JOHN  H.  VAN  DEVENTER 


SMALL  BOX  TURNING  TOOL 


ROUGHING  AND  FINISHING 


SAFETY  TOOL  POST  SCREW 


GRADUATED  BORING  BAR 


BRASS, 


OLLOWER  REST  FOR  SMALL  WORK 


CHIP  GUARD 


SLIDE-REST   KINKS  AND   CUTTING-TOOL   STUNTS 


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FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEPOOK 


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SETTING  THE  TOOL  WITH  CENTERS 


IF  A   SKIPS,  B  WILL  GET  UNDER  SCALE 


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LATHE  TESTER 


SUPPORT  FOR  BAR  STRAIGHTENING 


TOOL  BELOW  CENTER 


TOOL  ABOVE  CENTER 


TOOL  ON  CENTER 


CENTER     PROTECTORS 


HINTS  THAT  WILL  HELP  THE  AMBITIOUS  LATHE  HAND 

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(95) 


• 


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, 

From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 


BY  J.  A.  LUCAS 


DRILLING  AND  TAPPING 


INSERTING  THE  BACKBONE 


THE  DAM  AGED  TOOTH 


GEAR  DENTISTRY 

IN 

SIX  PARTS 


/ 


TAKING  THE  LATHE  TO  THE  WORK  IS  SOMETIMES  NECESSARY 


TXS  LUBRICANT  FOLLOWS  THE  TOOL 


TAKEN    FROM   ACTUAL.   PRACTICE 


jmiiiiiimMimniiiimiiiiiiriiMiimnmiimimimiiiiiilimilinmiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiimimmiiiiiiiiMm 

(96) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


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RATCHET  GRIP 


MADE  OFP/PE  AND  F/TT/N^S 


FOR  P/PE  OK  SHAFTS 


REQUIRES  LITTLE  SPACE  AND  DOES  MUCH  WORK 


PERFORMS   WONDERS  ON  BOARD  SHIP 


WEDGE  GRIP 


UNIVERSAL  'OLD  MAN  " 


CLAMP  GRIP 


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SEVEN   APPLICATIONS    OF    "OLD    MEN" 
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(97) 


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From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 


BY  J.  A.  LUCAS 


VARIOUS  CENTERPUNCHING  KINKS 


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(98) 


llllf: 


PROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


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VARIOUS  WAYS  OF  PULLING  KEYS 


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(99) 


From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 


BY  J.  A.  LUCAS 


A   NUMBER  OF  HANDY    SHOP   KINKS 
(100) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


A  HANDY  RIG  FOR  THE  WORK  BENCH 

(101) 


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From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 


BY  J.  A.  LUCAS 


POS/T/VE  FEED 
BREAST  DRILL 


PIPE  BENDING 


SUPPORT  FOR  LONG  WORK 
' 


AS  A  BENDING  FfXTURE 


SUPPORT  FOR  LONG .  WORK 


A  NUMBER  OF  HANDY  VISE  KINKS 


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(102) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


FOOT-CONTROLLED  INDEXING 


KNEE-OPERATED  V/SE 


SURFACE  GAGE 


FOOT-OPERATED  CLAMP  FOR  SHEAR  BLADES 


FOOT-OPERATED  SPRING  CHUCK 


HANDY  WORK-BENCH   DEVICES 


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(103) 


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• 
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piiiiiiiiiimimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iii!imiiiiiiiiiiii!iM»i»iii:iii;iiM 

From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 

BY  J.   A.   LUCAS 

iiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiin 


SAW  FfL/NG  CLAMP 


PfPE  R/VET/NG  HORN 


SHEET  METAL  F/L/NG   CiAMP 


LIGHT  METAL   PUNCH /NG  F/XTUKE 


TEMPORARY  SCREW  KEPA/K. 


FALSE  JAWS  FOR  BEND/NG  SHARP  ANGLES 


A  NUMBER  OF  HANDY  VISE  KINKS 
(104) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


COMB/NED  STOCK  RESTartctrOOL  SHELF 


HANDY  BENCH  CRANE 


DUSTLESS   SHELFS 


DOUBLE  POINTS 


SEVERAL  USEFUL  DEVICES  FOR  THE  SHOP 
(105) 


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From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 


BY  J.  A.  LUCAS 


HAND  WHEEL  SPANNERS 


HANDLING  POLISHED  PIPES 


QUICK  CENTERING  RIG 


TEST  INDICATORS 


'Mini 


SOME   USEFUL   SHOP   KINKS 
»"" nniiiiii ill i li in minimi in 11 i iniuimninn minim nnmnimnm n nninnimnnnnimn minimum mini inimnimiimnmiiniimiimnmiiniiiini:' iniimitillll'm 

(106) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


aininii 


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s  ^ 
MAKING  HIGH  JACKS  LOW 


SPARE  LESS 


MAKING  LOW  JACKS  HI6H 


ECCENTRIC  CLAMPJN5  DEVICE 


DOUBLE-ACTING  CLAMP  FOR  PLANER 


ADJUSTABLE  PLANER  JACKS 


VARIOUS  TYPES  OF  JACKS  AND  CLAMPS 

^iJiiiimiiiHiiimiimiimiiiiiiMimiitiiiiiniiiimillliilmiiiiiiniiiniiniiniiiiiiiiuiiimlmiimimiin 


(107) 


yiijuiliimimmumiinimiimmmiiiinmmmmmimuimmMmiiiimimmiimmiimiimiliimmiiinmm 


From  a  Small-Shop  Notebook 


BY  J.  A.  LUCAS 


(Fill  Tube  with  Abrasive  and  Cork) 


INTERNAL,    EXTERNAL   AND    END    LAPPING    DEVICES 


(108) 


FROM  A  SMALL-SHOP  NOTEBOOK 


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MILL  GROOVES  POUR  BABBITT 


INCREASING  THE  DIAMETER  Of  A  WORN  LAP 


ROUGH  INTERNAL  LAPPING  DEVICES 

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(109) 


MAKING  SMALL  SHOPS  PROFITABLE 


FIGS.  1  TO  14.    A  NUMBER  OF  DIFFERENT  TYPES  OF  PIPE  HANGERS 

(110) 


Index 


Abrasive    sheet,    fastening   on    wood 

roll,  etc 93 

Alloy  steel,  heat  treatment  for  case 

hardening  37 

Aluminum  castings,  preventing  local 

shrinkage  61 

Angle  plates,  squaring  on  lathe  face 

plates  70 

Angle  square,  universal 79 

Angles,  bending  sharp  in  vise 104 

Annealing,  saw  blades  locally 64 

Annealing  steel  32 

Arbor,  adjustable  for  heavy  work..  66 


B 


Babbitt,  end  mill  form 52 

Ball  centers  used  for  taper  turning  78 
Bar  stock,  wedge  V  block  for  clamp- 
ing      91 

Bearings,  care  of  in  small  shop 47 

self-aligning 47 

Belt  lace,   splitting  in   bench  vise. .  62 

Belts,  various  methods  of  cutting.  .  85 

Bending  rods   in    vise 102 

Best  way  to  cut  screw  threads 25 

Bevels,  laying  out  on  bars 69 

Blueprints,  clips  for  hanging 19 

Boring     machine,     handling     turret 

work   on    67 

Boring  mill  job  on  engine  lathe ...  63 
Boring,  profile  boring  with  tail-stock 

templet    66 

Box  turning  tool  for  lathe 94 

Bushing,  quick  way  to  drill 67 

Bushings,   various  methods  of  driv- 
ing and  pulling 88 


Calipers,  convenient  method  of  set- 
ting   . 71 

Capital,  using  skill  instead  of 5 

Carbon   steel,   case  hardening  treat- 
ment for   37 

Carbonizing  boxes,   details   of 34 

Carbonizing   steel    34 

Case  hardened  work,  the  treatment 

necessary  for    37 

Case  hardening,  combination  cooling 

tank    36 

local  carbonizing  by  use  of  various 

methods 35 

methods  of 34 

penetration   of   various   heats ....  35 

process  of   34 

various  penetrations 35 

Castings,  pickling   42 

preventing  shrinkage  in  aluminum  61 

Center  bearings   63 

Center    oiling    device 63 

Center  punching  kinks,  various ....  98 

Center   square    79 

Centering    device,    simple 66 

Centering,  rig  for  quick  centering.  .  106 

Chasing  threads  with   pipe  tap ....  66 

Chip  guard  for  lathe 94 

Chip  protectors,  celluloid 70 

Chipping  screen  and  tool  trays,  com- 
bination      100 

Chrome  nickel  steel,  case  hardening 

treatment  for   37 

Chuck,   wedge  chuck   for  lathes ....  70 

Chucking  block  for  vise  work 71 

Chucks,  home-made  for  lathes 78 

Clamp,  combination  end  and  side  for 

planer     107 

double-acting  for  planer 107 

floating  jaws    91 

quick  work  clamp  for  shaper ....  92 

Clamping  device,  eccentric 107 


Clips  for  blueprints 19 

Compounds,   good,   general 60 

Concave  radius,  planing 80 

Concave  surface,   turning 65 

Countersinking  attachment  for  twist 

drill    91 

Crane,  handy  bench  crane 105 

Crane  made  of  iron  pipe 83 

Cranes,   simple  crane  for  bench ....  100 

Crank-pin,   special   tool   for 66 

Credit  in  the  small  shop 1 

Critical  temperature  of  steel 31 

Cupboard,  burglar  proof,  screws  for  71 

Curved   hole   drilling 91 

Curves,  turning  without  templet  in 

lathe     66 

Cutter,  adjustable  boring  for  finish- 
ing      72 

Cutting   oils    and    compounds,    com- 
parative   tests    for 57 


D 


Die  for  drawing,  light  tubing 67 

Die  sinking  shop,  a  successful  small  5 

Dipping  tanks  for  different  purposes  46 

perforated  tags  for 46 

Disks,  turning  round  disks  on  square 

shears    73 

Dividing,   circular   for   shaper 92 

Dock  nuts  and  locking  devices 74 

Dogs  70 

Double-point   surface  gage 105 

Drawers,  swinging  for  small  tools .  .  69 
Drawings,  standardizing  drawings  of 

machine  details   53 

Drill,   close   quarter 62 

Drill  gaging  methods 93 

Drill    press    converted    into    boring 

machine     72 

Drill,  quick  method  for  bushing. ...  67 

Drill  vise,  holding  two  pieces  in. ...  72 

Drilling  a  curved  hole 91 

Drilling  machine,  circular  milling  in  90 

punch  press  work  on 90 

rotary   filling   in 90 

side  milling;  in 90 

surface  milling  on 90 

Drilling     machines,     boring     pump 

chambers  in    33 

Dull   finish    42 

Dustless   shelves    105 

Dutchman,  putting  it  in  right 73 

E 

Enamel,  first  and  second  coat 44 

Engine   lathe,    form   turning   in ....  65 

traverse  and  spindle  grinder  for.  .  17 

used  as  boring  mill 63 

Expanding  arbors,  variety  of 82 

Experience,  the  kind  that  sticks...  1 

Eye  bender,  hand  power 93 

Eye  twister    93 


Face-plate  tester   78 

Filing  table,   swivel 62 

Finish,    necessity   for   good   on    ma- 
chines       41 

Flexible  coupling    47 

Follower   for   smooth   chucks 65 

Forge  shop,  blacksmith's  taper  gage  83 

cranes  for   83 

dividers  for  ring  work 83 

double  anti-slip  tongs 82 

handy  rack  for 82 

keeping  mandrel   from  jumping.  .  83 

method  of  heating  small  parts.  .  .  83 

spring    fullers    for 83 

stock-measuring  gage  for  anvil...  83 

tong  attachment  for  forge 82 

(111) 


Forge,  tongs,  adjustable 83 

Forge  work,  bending  with  fuller  and 

block   82 

method   of   making  rings 82 

Form  turning  in  engine  lathe 65 

Foundation,  method  of  locating  ma- 
chinery templets    50 

Foundry,  expensive  luxuries  in  small 

shops    12 

Full  gloss  finish    42 

Furnaces,  various  types  for  harden- 
ing and  annealing  steel 31 


G 


Gears,  method  of  inserting  teeth  in  96 

Greases,   testing   for   filling 48 

testing  for  rosin  and  gum 49 

testing  for  volatile  matter 48 

Grinder  in  the  small  shop 17 

Grinder,  surface  feeds  for  work.  ...  19 
traverse    and    spindle    attachment 

for  lathe   17 

universal  in  small  shop 19 

Grinding  troubles,  causes  and  reme- 
dies for   18 

Grinding  wheel  dressers 16 

Grinding    wheels,    four    methods    of 

mounting  14 

how  to  apply  spindle  nut 15 

how  to  enlarge  the  hole  in 16 

method     for     keeping    at     proper 

speed    15 

safety  code  for  use  of 16 

safety  cover  mountings 14 

stopping   vibration   of 14 


Hand  Rye  bender 93 

Hand  Eye  twister 93 

Hand  turning  device 79 

Heat    treatment    of    case    hardened 

work     37 

Heating  baths    31 

High    skill    work    in    small    shops, 

profitable    6 

High   speed  steel  cutters,  tempering  33 

small  shop  specializing  in 8 

time  requirement  in  hardening. .  .  33 


Improvements,  limiting  in  the  small 

shop    3 

Improvised    tumbling   barrel 67 

Indexing,   foot  control   for   indexing 

vise     103 

Indicator,  improvised  lathe  indicator     78 
Internal,   external   and   end   lapping 

devices   108 

Internal  hardening  kinks 93 

Inventive  instinct  not  always  possi- 
ble           3 


Jacks,  adjustable  planer 107 

method  of  shortening 80 

shortening  and  lengthening 107 

Jigs  for   use  in   vise 69 


Key  waging  planer,  clamp  for 84 

Keys,  various  ways  of  pulling 99 

Knurled  effects  produced  by  stamp- 
ing      24 

Knurling,   angles   for   teeth 20 

effect  of  various  tooth  impressions  20 
hardness    of    material    and    effect 

on  teeth  angle 20 

in  the  engine  lathe 23 


INDEX 


Knurling  —  continued 

in  small  shops 20 

in  the  vise 23 

method  of  on  screw  machines....  22 

on  the  chucking  lathe 23 

on  the  milling  machine 23 

on  the  screw  machine 23 

on   the  shaper 23 

on  the  speed  lathe 23 

plain  and  spiral  round 21 

planning  the  depth  of  knurl  teetli  20 
varying  the  number  of  tooth  im- 
pressions      21 

Knurls,  adjustable  triple 24 

holder   and   spacing   collar   for ...  22 
master    arrangement    for    cutting 

concave  and  convex 21 

method    of   producing   ornamental 

master    24 

simple   attachment   for   making   a 

spiral  knurl  on  millers 21 

special    applications   of 24 


Lapping    devices,    internal,    external 

and  end   108 

rough   internal  lapping 109 

Lard  oil  and  lard  oil  mixtures 58 

Lathe,  box  turning  tool  for 94 

center  protector  for 95 

Lathe   chuck,    home-made 78 

improvised  with  screw  adjustment  70 

Lathe  chuck   on   wedge  principle...  70 

Lathe  faceplate  tester 78 

Lathe,  grinding,  boring  tool  for  scale  95 

Lathe  hand  wheel  spanners lOfi 

improvised  screw  chuck  for 70 

method  of  fitting  tool  in 95 

methods  of  testing  height  of  tool 

with    scale    95 

oval-turning  device  for 7S 

screw    cutting   on 27 

testing    device    for 95 

tool  post,  special  for  crank  pin .  .  66 

turning  curve  without  templet.  .  .  6(i 

Lathes,  chip  guard  for 94 

follower    for    small    work 94 

graduated  boring  bar  for 94 

improvised   taper  attachment  for.  Uo 

milling    in    03 

multiple    tools   in 65 

rigging  up  to  cut  quick  leads ....  25 
roughing   and   finishing  tool  com- 
bined       94 

screw   machine  job   in 65 

squaring  angle  plate  on  face  plate  70 
Leads,   quick,  rigging   up  to  cut   in 

lathes 25 

Length  gage  used  in  vise 102 

Long  work,  supporting  in  vise 102 

Lubricant   practice,    standardizing.  .  61 

Lubricants,  applying  to  tools 60 

testing,  cutting   57 

Lubrication,  record  of 61 

M 

Machine  details,  standardizing  draw- 
ings  of    53 

Machinery,   lubricating  oils  for....  50 
Machines,  how  the  purchase  of  one 

affected  shop  future 7 

Mandrel  centers,  protecting 79 

Mill,  end  for  babbitt 52 

Milling,  form  milling  to  templet.  ...  67 

N 

Number   of   different   types   of   pipe 

hangers     110 

O 

Oil  grooving  with  twist  drill 64 

Oil  rings,  cutting  on  wood  arbors. .  70 

Oil,  testing  for  sulphur 48 

various  tests   for   impurities 47 

Oiling  device,  for  lathe  centers....  63 
Oils  and  compounds,  care  and  distri- 
bution of  60 


Oils,  lubricating  and  cutting 5(1 

reducing  wastage  of 56 

simnle  testing  for  viscosity 48 

"  old  man  "  applications  of fl" 

Oval-turning  device    78 


Paint  brushes,  keeping  in  condition  44 

proper  sbe  and  shape  of 43 

Painting  by  dip-tank   method 45 

Painting  by   spray 46 

Painting  department,  constitution  of  43 

Paints,   overcoming  disadvantage  of  43 

Pattern  turning  on  planer 84 

Patterns   and   castings,   making   for 

small   shop    12 

obtaining  weight  by  displacement  9 
Patterns,    getting    them    made    for 

small    shops    13 

Peripheral  speed  of  grinding  wheels, 

in   terms   of   revolution 1C 

Pickling  castings    42 

Pins,  getting  a  grip  on (!!) 

shearing   in    lathes 03 

various  ways  of  cutting  in  quan- 
tities      86 

Pipe,  bending  in  vise 102 

devices  to   facilitate  brazing 82 

Pipe  hangers,  various  types  of 110 

Pipe  riveting  horn  for  vise 104 

Pipe  tap,  tracing  threads  with 66 

Pipe  wrench  for  finished  work 73 

Planer  chuck,  lifting 62 

Planer,    combination    end    stop    and 

side-clamp  for    68 

cutting   racks    on 80 

cutting   spirals   on 80 

double-acting  clamp   for 107 

handling  oversize  job  on 84 

jacks  adjustable    107 

signal   for    68 

surface  grinder   attachment   for.  .  17 

templet  work  on 80 

turning  patterns  on 84 

Planing  concave  radius 80 

Planing   to   templet 80 

Protecting  mandrel   centers 79 

Pulley,  reboring  by  hand 71 

Pulling  keys,  various  ways  of 99 

Pump   chambers,   boring  in   drilling 

machine   33 

Punch   bar,  graduated 67 

Punch,  for  thin  sheets 62 

Punching,  light  metal  in  vise 104 

Punching  thin  stock  on  shapers 84 

Pyrometer,   thermocouple  type    ....  39 

Pyrometers,  checking  up  cold  ends . .  40 

expansion    type    39 

in    small    shops. 38 

keeping   in    condition 40 

protecting  sheaths  for  fire  ends..  40 
temperature  indicators  and  record- 
ers      40 

various   types    suitable   for   small 

shops    38 


Pack  cutting  on  planer SO 

Reamer,  simple  fiat  reamer  with 

wood  packing  72 

Reboring,  pulley  by  hand 71 

Rings,  cutting  brass  oil  rings  on 

wood  arbors 70 

simple  fixture  for  forming  wire.  .  64 

Rough  internal  locking  lapping. .  .  109 


S 


Sand  blasting  for  machine   finish . .  42 

Saw,   local   annealing  of 64 

Screw  cap,- quick  lathe  chuck  for..  70 

Screw  cutting  on  lathe 27 

Screw  machine  work  in  lathes 66 

Screw   threads    25 

limit  gage  for 29 

measuring     2tf 

(112) 


Screw  threads  —  continued 

two-     and     three-wire    system    of 

measurement    29 

variations    •  291 

variations   in   diameter 29 

with   incorrect   angle 28 

Screws,  accurate  on  thread  millers.  .  27 

holding  short  screws  for  slotting. .  69 

Semi-gloss  or   egg  shell  finish 42 

Shafts,  aligning  templets 52 

straightening    in    place 69 

straightening  press  made  with  I- 

beams     62 

Shaper    chucks,    lifting 30 

Shaper,  circular  dividing  head  for.  .  92 

homemade  foot  driven 84 

punching  thin  stock  on 84 

quick   work   clamp  for 92 

shaping  circular  work 92- 

tilting   table  for 92 

Shaping  spiral  work  in  shaper 92 

Shear  blades,  foot  operated  clamp  for  103 

Shelves,  dustless    105- 

Slot  drilling,  improved  method  of .  .  67 

Small   filing  clamp  for  vise 104 

Small   tools,  swinging  drawer  for..  69 

Socket  wrench,   folding 93 

Spherical   turning,  device  for  inter- 
nal   .'. : 78 

Spirals,  cutting  on  planer 80 

Spring    fever,    curing    in    the    small 

shop    10 

Spring,  utilizing  hand  drill  for  wind- 
ing      91 

way  to  make  a  heavy 66 

winding   and   cutting   methods...  87 

Steel  annealing   32 

Steel,  carbonizing   34 

critical  points    31 

decarbonization,  preventing  in  taps 

and  reamers   32 

easing  off  internal  stresses  in 32 

fast  heating  to  be  avoided 32 

hardening  and  annealing  in  small 

shops    31 

hardening  in  brine  solution 32 

loss  of  magnetic  property  at  criti- 
cal  temperature    31 

methods  of  heating  for  hardening 

and  annealing    31 

rough    cutting   before   hardening.  32 

water  annealing  of 33 

Stock  rest  and  tool-shelf  combined..  15 

Sulphur   in  oil,  testing  for 48 

Surface   gage   with   double  points.  .  105 
Surface  grinding  attachment  applied 

to   planer    17 


Tail  centers,  self -lubricating. ..'....  65 
Tanks,  taking  kinks. out  of  closed..  71 
Tap  drill  sizes,  tapping  by  hand,  ex- 
pense of    26 

Tap,  measuring  pitch  diameter  with 

wires    30 

removing  broken   62 

Tap   wrench,   triple  action 73 

Taper  attachment  on  lathe 65 

Taper  turning  with   ball  centers.  .  .  78 

Tapping   thin   tubes 65 

Taps,  comparing  lead  of,  with  lead 

screw    30 

measuring  outside  diameters  of..  30 

method  of  extracting  broken 73 

methods    of   enlarging 67 

preventing  decarbonization   32 

reducing  size   of 67 

testing    for    warp    between    lathe 

centers    29 

three  ways  to  square  hand  taps..  64 
Temperature  indicating  outfits,  cost 

of     40 

Templet,  making  an  accurate 64 

Templet  testing  hood 100 

Test  indicators,   improvised 106 

Thread   cleaners,    simple 63 

Threading  long  shaft  on  two  lathes.  63 
Threading   with    leader    on    drilling 

machine 27 


INDEX 


Threads,    milling    with    single    and 

multiple  cutters 26 

Tight  grip  for  vise 100 

Tilting  table  for  shaper 92 

Tool  rack  for  lathe  and  boring  mill 

tools     79 

Tool-shelf  and  stock  rest  combined.  .  105 
Tool  tray  and  chipping  screen,  com- 
bination      100 

Toolmakers'  clamp   73 

Tools,  multiple  in  lathes 65 

Treatment  of  case  hardened  work . .  37 

Tubes,  tapping  thin 65 

Tubing,  die  for  drawings,  light. ...  67 

Tumbling  barrel    .  .  •  ., 67 

Turning   concave    surface 65 

Turning  device  for  turning  by  hand  79 

Turning  point  in  the  small  shop. ...  7 
Turret    work,    handling    on    boring 

machine     67 


U 


Universal  angle  square 79 

Universal  grinder  in  the  small  shop     19 


V   blocks,    adjustable   for    length ...  73 

made  from  round  pipe 72 

universal     for    round     stock    and 

spheres     72 

Various  methods  of  cutting  belts..  85 
Vibration  of  grinding  wheels,   stop- 
ping      14 

Viscosity,   testing  oils  for 48 

Vise,     chucking     block     for     quick 

chucking 71 

drilling  in  102 

drilling  in  bench  vise 102 

foot-operated     clamp      for      shear 

blade    103 

jaws  for  bending  sharp  angles...  104 

jigs     69 

kinks,  number  of  handy 102 

knee   operated    103 

length  gage  for 102 

pipe    bonding    in 102 

pipe-riveting   horn    104 

punching  light  metal  in 104 

sheet-metal  filling  clamp 104 


Vise  —  continued 

small  filing  clamp  for 104 

spring  chuck,   foot   operated 103 

supporting  long  work  in 102 

temporary   screw    repair    for 104 

tight  grip   for. .  . ; 100 

use  of  bending  fixture 102 

W 
Water  compounds  for  cutting,  effect 

of    59 

Weight    of    patterns,    obtaining    by 

displacement     9 

Welding    and   brazing   torches,    fire- 
proof receptacle  for 73 

Wing  nuts,  gripping  in  vise 71 

Wire  measurement  method  for  screw 

threads    29 

Wire    ring    fixture 64 

Wires,   kink   remover   for 69 

Work  bench,  handy  rig  for 101 

Wrench,        emergency        adjustable 

wrench    71 

emergency    pipe    wrench 64 

Wrench  protector    93 


(113) 


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